Press Release
Journey Wellness, an AI-Enabled, Personalised Healthcare Platform Launches in South Africa
Journey Wellness Co-Founders, Dr. Jacques Ludik and Lara Wayburne (Image: Nomsa Mdhluli)
Journey Wellness, an AI-Enabled, Personalised Healthcare Platform set to Revolutionize Wellness & Healthcare in South Africa. The Platform will transform business employee benefits and medical schemes’ approach to offering wellness for employees and medical aid members.
A revolutionary new approach to offering Ultra-Personalised, Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Healthcare from tech-trendsetting company Cortex Logic is set to transform the way medical aid schemes, consumers and corporates offering employee benefits as part of their EAP (Employee Assistance Programmes) view their current healthcare offering.
The Journey Wellness platform is perfectly timed to coincide with the current global shift in Healthcare, as the focus moves from a disease-management model to one that encourages optimum health and disease-avoidance, targeting younger as well as existing members with a holistic, pro-active offering.
Corporates and medical schemes are realising that they need to offer their employees and members wellness and EAP benefits that move beyond expensive, reactive, chemical care to cost-effective, proactive preventative primary care.
“Globally, an ever-increasing portion of healthcare spend and focus is shifting to promote wellness and wellbeing, rather than responding to illness,” says Lara Wayburne, a respected Healthcare Actuary consulting to Cortex Logic and part of the development team of the Journey Wellness Platform.
“Healthcare analysts predict that over the coming decade the focus on wellness and wellbeing can reduce overall healthcare costs by as much as 30%.”
“Journey Wellness enables that future by empowering and engaging consumers to better understand the drivers that impact their health and therefore be more actively involved in managing their own health. By doing so, the Journey Wellness ecosystem encourages positive health seeking behaviour, promoting better physical and mental health,” says Wayburne.
The driving force behind Journey Wellness, Dr Jacques Ludik, Founder and CEO of Cortex Logic, who has also recently written a book called ‘Democratizing Artificial Intelligence to Benefit Everyone’, says that the Journey Wellness platform will provide more healthcare, to more people, faster.
“Essentially, Journey is a cost-effective, pro-active, personalised and engaged AI health companion that will improve health outcomes for everyone involved – the medical scheme provider, employers, employees, healthcare providers and ultimately the end-user consumer who will benefit from personalised, proactive healthcare with the added benefits of cost savings all-round,” says Dr Ludik.
Journey Wellness offers a number of benefits for Medical Schemes, Corporates and End-Users:
Employer Groups and Medical Scheme providers will benefit from the cost savings inherent in moving from expensive, reactive, chemical care to cost-effective, proactive preventative primary care for their members and employees. This will result in increased productivity, increased employee engagement, reduced absenteeism and cost-savings to all involved.
Healthcare Providers will benefit from having a 360-degree view of their patients that will improve wellness proactively without costly chemical intervention, usually at the reactive stage and will also empower patients with continuous self-care.
And, Consumers will benefit from a Holistic Wellness Solution and the reduced need for expensive healthcare options, improved wellbeing, rewards for engagement and ultimately having a personalised wellness coach on hand at all times to help them understand their health status and associated risks and better manage their health and improve quality of life.
“Overall, it’s a win-win scenario in which technology, data and analytics foster a collaborative and progressive healthcare environment, creating an ecosystem for improved wellbeing one step at a time that benefits everyone,” says Wayburne.
Journey Wellness has also made an exciting announcement around making the Platform’s Mental Health Module available for free to users from 1 September 2021.
“We realise that the current state of affairs globally, and in South Africa in particular, with pandemic lockdowns and economic uncertainty foremost on our minds, places an enormous amount of pressure on people. So, we’re offering free access to our Mental Health Module to users, where they can access an AI-enabled mental health companion 24/7,” says Dr Ludik.
The Journey Wellness Demo Platform for Corporate Employers and Medical Schemes is available at www.journeywellness.co.za, and for Consumers, the User App is available as a free download for Android and iOS devices at Google Play and App Store. Medical schemes and Employers looking to offer Journey Wellness to their members can interact directly with Journey Wellness by requesting a demo via the website.
Press Release
African Guarantee Fund and Clean Cooking Alliance challenge Africa’s Banking Industry to invest in Carbon Markets
The African Guarantee Fund (AGF) and the Clean Cooking Alliance, in partnership with the U.N. Capital Development Fund, have joined forces to empower Africa’s banking industry with knowledge and insights necessary to navigate carbon markets effectively.
Under the Partnership Platform for Clean Cooking Finance, the three institutions hosted over 100 Senior Bankers in Kenya for a “Banking on Carbon Markets” workshop that focused on financing clean cooking projects. Carbon finance business models, the intricacies of financing clean cooking projects and their associated risk-return profiles, were some of the topics discussed. Industry leaders and investors shared global evidence and practical experiences in underwriting risks related to lending to clean cooking carbon projects.
The workshop comes close on the heels of the Africa Climate Summit that brought together global key players in Nairobi. António Guterres, the UN secretary general, told the conference. “Africa is home to 60 per cent of the world’s best solar resources — but only two per cent of global investments in renewable energy over the last two decades. Now is the time to bring together African countries with developed countries, financial institutions and technology companies to create a true African Renewable Energy Alliance.”
The spotlight on green and sustainable finance primarily centers on mitigating climate risk, but the untapped potential for banks to maximize opportunities through climate action is often underestimated. In the face of mounting pressure from customers, shareholders, investors, and regulators, banks are compelled to align their corporate strategies and lending criteria with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards.
Speaking at the workshop, Mr Patrick Lumumba, AGF Group Director of Capacity Development, emphasized that “Carbon projects have become instrumental in channeling funds across various sectors of the economy, expediting transitions towards a sustainable future. However, banks frequently lack comprehensive data to assess the risks and returns associated with carbon projects. They also lack information about effective market entry strategies, growth-oriented business models, risk management, and prudent portfolio construction practices.”
“Today’s workshop is a clear example of AGF’s capacity development efforts in action to enable the banking sector venture into carbon markets by way of increasing financing of clean cooking projects. Prioritizing this sector directly impacts on several SDGs such as gender equality, good health and wellbeing and indeed climate action.”
Mr. Feisal Hussain, CCA Senior Director of Innovative Finance, noted that “Banks are essential to realizing the full potential of the carbon markets by helping to fill the financing gap needed to initiate and scale up carbon projects. This is crucial to accelerating the clean energy transition and transforming the lives of people who currently do not have access to clean cooking fuels and technologies.”
“The new Partnership Platform for Clean Cooking Finance is key to this endeavor as it brings together several distinctive capabilities: CCA’s convening ability and technical expertise on clean cooking; African Guarantee Fund focus on Africa and de-risking investments, with a commitment to green finance; and UNCDF’s capital mandate for emerging markets,” he added.
VC4A, the leading startup platform in emerging markets, is proud to announce the 12 African startups that have been selected to participate in the 2023 VC4A Venture Showcase Africa. This annual flagship program brings together the best and brightest startups from across the continent, giving them the opportunity to pitch their ideas to investors and industry experts with the objective of raising their Seed or Series A funding rounds.
The 12 startups selected for the 2023 Venture Showcase Africa are:
Three ventures from Egypt, which are Rology, an AI-assisted tele-radiology platform that helps deliver accurate radiology reports on time; FreshSource, a B2B agri-supply chain platform that uses data and technology to connect producers to businesses, guarantee fair prices, and minimize food loss; and Pharmacy Marts, a B2B marketplace for pharmacies that provides a one-stop shop for products, financing, and logistics.
Four startups from Nigeria namely; Vendy, which helps businesses accept payments from customers without internet access; Treepz, a car-sharing platform for Africa that aims to reduce CO2 emissions; Winich Farms, an application that connects food producers to informal food processors and retailers in Africa; and OmniRetail, a B2B e-commerce platform offering supplier & retail software, to connect the informal retail ecosystem across Africa.
Three startups from Kenya; Duhqa, a digital supply chain platform that uses AI and automation to help SMEs and manufacturers grow their businesses; MPost, which is a digital platform that turns mobile phone numbers into formal postal addresses, and SympliFi, a blockchain-powered credit-as-a-service platform that provides affordable credit to MSMEs in Africa.
To close the top 12 list, one startup each from Uganda and Senegal; Emata is a digital lending platform on a mission to provide loans to millions of farmers in East Africa and Maad, is an e-commerce marketplace connecting manufacturers and retailers in Francophone Africa.
These high-growth ventures were chosen from a pool of hundreds of applicants, and represent a diverse range of industries and sectors in the Seed and Series A tracks. Each startup will receive mentorship, technical assistance and will have the opportunity to showcase their companies to an audience of investors and industry leaders in the VC4A Deal Room.
“We are thrilled to unveil these exceptional startups for our upcoming VC4A Venture Showcase Africa 2023 program. Each is a beacon of innovation and entrepreneurship. These visionary teams have demonstrated remarkable potential and we eagerly anticipate the transformative journey ahead as we accelerate their growth and shape the future together,” said an excited Abu Cassim, Lead of the Acceleration Team at VC4A.
Press Release
Goodwell invests in SOUK Farms to scale sustainable agricultural production across Rwanda
Goodwell Investments, an impact investing firm fostering inclusive growth in emerging markets is pleased to announce their investment in SOUK Farms, a leading grower and exporter of fresh horticultural produce from Rwanda. The funding comes through uMunthu II, the impact investor’s 150 EUR million fund focused on scalable, early-growth stage businesses in Africa. The investment provides SOUK Farms with a solid foundation for scaling their sustainable agricultural business in Rwanda, enabling them to create resilient systems and value chains that benefit local farmers and the surrounding community.
Founded in 2019, SOUK Farms has already carved out a significant niche in Rwanda’s agricultural landscape, building its own farming operations as well as working with a wide network of outgrowers to cultivate and export high-quality exotic horticultural produce while also serving consumers in the Rwanda market. They have achieved this with a unique blend of innovation and a steadfast commitment to strengthening the resilience of local farms against climate change and disruptive rainfall patterns.
Partnering with Goodwell gives SOUK Farms the necessary capital to pursue these ambitions at a wider scale. “The opportunities to create sustainable agricultural practices and improve existing ones in Rwanda are great. Our partnership with Goodwell will drive a huge impact not only for the growth of SOUK Farms but also for the farmers and the communities we work as we continue to offer solutions that improve incomes and create employment while also implementing education and outreach programs for youth and women,” said Seun Rasheed, Founder and CEO at SOUK Farms.
SOUK Farms has been a key player in Rwanda’s socioeconomic transformation, and their ability to create a positive impact in the local agricultural supply chain is well established. Working closely with over 1,200 farmers across Rwanda, they have greatly improved livelihoods, enabling farmers to earn upwards of 300% more than they did prior to being outgrowers for SOUK Farms. Currently, 71% of the company’s workforce are women, aligning with the Rwandan government’s national Agriculture policy which promotes gender equality at all levels of the agricultural value chain.
Their impact efforts and solid business model are an ideal fit for Goodwell’s agricultural investment strategy, which strives to improve value chains, reduce post-harvest losses, and create better livelihoods for smallholder farmers.
“Under the experienced leadership of Seun Rasheed, SOUK Farms has a clear vision for expanding their impact and productivity in a sector with ever-increasing demand. We are proud to support the company in this exciting stage of their business growth, and look forward to seeing how they continue to innovate in the agricultural space. With this investment, we are also pleased to mark our entry into the Rwandan market, further expanding Goodwell’s presence in East Africa,” said Judith Ngonyo, Investment Manager at Goodwell Investments.
This investment comes at a crucial time, enabling SOUK Farms to build on its success, scale operations, and increase the productivity of Rwandan farmers. It also reinforces Goodwell’s commitment to supporting companies that improve livelihoods and deliver affordable, accessible, high-quality goods and services to underserved populations.
