Co-creation Hub (CcHUB), an Africa technology innovation centre said it was in partnership with Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC), to spur the development of innovative solutions by startups, for dealing with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This partnership is coming on the back of CcHUB’s recent call to the startup community across Africa to procure solutions that could help lessen the impact of the disease.
The immediate focus of Lagos state in curbing the spread of this pandemic is to alleviate issues such as contact tracking, last-mile communication, the supply chain for delivery of essential medication, food and healthcare materials.
In a release, CcHUB said that the company through its multi-disciplinary team of product designers and engineers in CcHUB Design Lab in Kigali, Rwanda will provide funding and research to support the participants explore the application of Human-centered Design (HCD), to proffer innovative solutions to flatten the curve of the spread of the deadly virus.
According to the release, for a project focused on Lagos, LASRIC will also fund novel solutions on COVID-19 by providing grant funding of $1000 to six applicants.
“Since the announcement of the call for submissions, hundreds of responses have been sent in from various parts of Africa. Upon review of the applications received, CcHUB will announce via Twitter the first set of startups moving on to receive support for execution on March 22nd, 2020.
“In addition to the grant funding, LASRIC will review the most promising solution with the intention of investing $12,000 in a convertible note with an equity claim in possible future funding rounds. The terms of this follow-on investment will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
“For startups based in Lagos and working on a prototype or have a solution in ideation, with the capability to develop the solution with available resources from CcHUB and LASRIC have been called by the startup support team at CcHUB will be in touch.”
