Despite being a basic necessity, access to affordable healthcare is still a privilege for a selected few in some African countries. The newly established fund, WiNFUND, has released an NFT collection to support healthcare startups.
The non-profit public fund WiNFUND Africa announced the launch of a new NFT Africa collection at the end of February 2023. This is a charity project aimed at developing the African healthcare system. The funds raised will be used to support initiatives led by female doctors and protect the health of African women.
WiNFUND aims to address two issues: firstly, around 50% of the population in Africa lack access to basic medical services, and secondly, less than 2% of global venture capital funding goes to women-led enterprises, despite being more profitable statistically. WiNFUND hopes to mitigate these negative trends by supporting women entrepreneurs in the healthcare industry.
The collection features over 8,000 pieces of digital art created by Rwandan artist Cristella Bijou. The project's technology partner is Tokenproof, which oversees the minting of NFTs on the Ethereum platform.
The future owners of Bijou's artworks, along with other WiNFUND donors, will form the foundation of a community of like-minded individuals and mentors who will work together to support women’s entrepreneurship.
In the seven months since the project's inception, WiNFUND has received over three hundred applications from female entrepreneurs in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda.
WiNFUND is an innovative model that will help entrepreneurs grow by building an engaged, global community that will provide business support and financing through the sale of unique NFTsPatricia O'Hayer, Global Head of External Affairs at Reckitt, and co-founder of WiNFUND, said.
It's worth noting that among WiNFUND's founders are the Health Innovation Exchange (HIEx) in partnership with the Kofi Annan Foundation and the EcoBank Foundation. The HIEx is a non-profit partnership platform headquartered in Geneva that brings together policymakers, investors, and innovators in the healthcare sector.
In the future, WiNFUND is expected to scale its model of supporting medical startups to other continents.
