A Kenyan-based startup, Flare, emerged among three winners to scoop the inaugural Kofi Annan Award for innovation in Africa.
During the award ceremony in Vienna at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the startup emerged top out of over 330 applications from 38 countries on the continent.
Following the win, Flare received Ksh29.6 million ($250,000) in grants as well as access to long-term mentoring and international visibility.
A file image of a branded ambulance ready for operations.
File While addressing the event, Austrian Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer, noted that the award aims to shine a light on unique innovations within the continent.
“With the Kofi Annan Award, the Federal Chancellery not only supports innovative startups from Africa with Ksh29 million each but also helps them gain centre stage. In this way, we are giving them the chance to network with experienced companies and to drive their projects and ideas forward even more effectively.
“It is a true pleasure and honor to be the patron of this great initiative. I wish the winners all the best and much success in their future endeavours,” Nehammer stated.
The Kofi Annan Award seeks to recognize startups that challenge traditional approaches and come up with unique inventions that offer global solutions.
The other two startups that received the award alongside Flare include Nigeria’s Mobicure which seeks to increase awareness of sexual health of the youth and Zimbabwe’s Vaxiglobal which is an online platform that sensitizes and ramps up vaccination campaigns in a country.
Flare, on the other hand, is an application that secures ambulance services for the public within minutes. The startup was launched in January 2018.
According to the official website, users can utilise numerous services in the ambulance-based app including planning around real-time conditions and tracking accurate location data for effective response.
“Flare is designed with and for emergency response professionals – built to address the goals and concerns of your emergency response team,” from the official site.
A person using a phone
File sex
