Government through the Ministry of ICT has identified 12 technology startups that will receive seed funding to transform their ideas into marketable solutions.
The successful dozen of tech SMEs were revealed on Thursday by the Minister of ICT, Frank Tumwebaze on what he termed as a very important day in the ICT sector.
The bulk of the 12 startups are in the field of health while others offer tech solutions in energy, finance, energy agricultural and information management.
In addition to providing funding, Minister Tumwebaze said that government will be the first client when the 12 products come onto the market.
A team of judges sieved through a total of over 350 applications from different startups to the final 12.
“I have both been convinced that your solutions can solve problems and can indeed sustain themselves in the market. I can now proudly report to the whole country that Ugandans have solutions of their own on the domestic market,” Tumwebaze said.
He said that “If we can take these to the regional and international markets, then we shall have fully liberated our country from being a net importer of IT systems and solutions”.
The seed funding is under the National ICT Initiatives Support Program (NIISP) and part of the Shs 13 billion meant for the ICT hub in Nakawa.
NIISP is mandated to construct ICT hubs that will offer free work spaces to young innovators in their primary stages, and providing direct financial support to individual innovators and private hubs, that have solutions ready to go the market.
Below are the tech startups selected for funding.
AIMS: The Academic Information Management System (AIMS) is an integrated information system locally designed and customized to meet the needs of the Universities in Uganda. The system is designed for computerization of student information, fees, financial and all other University functions.
Kicare: KiCare is a non-invasive solution that tests for Kidney functionality; the difference is that a blood sample is not required to perform this kidney functionality test.
Protecting infants remotely by SMS (PRISMS) is an SMS based system which assists health workers to provide new-born care clinical management through provision of instant clinical care decisions based on routine assessment findings.
Wulira App: Is a hearing assessment mobile application that is used to assess hearing loss in patients such as those on TB or HIV medications. This application helps patients discover that they have hearing loss before it is too late for medical practitioners to remedy.
Sysimo technologies: Blood Donation System (BDS) is a mobile based application which facilitates communication between blood donors and blood donation centres so that the appropriate donor can be reached just on time.
Dero energy services limited: This application supports the acquisition of localized solar power which is cheaper than grid power to support renewable energy.
Energrow: aims to catalyse socio-economic development through sustainable electricity demand growth, by means of digital financial inclusion, business training and increased energy literacy.
Intel world international: Xente is an application that enables cashless consumer to business transactions. It is an online payment platform that enables businesses to reach and transact with their customers.
OCULAR: Ocular is a mobile application which enables diagnosis for microscopically diagnosed diseases. This application is at prototype level and has been successfully tested – it sits on a mobile phone which is connected to a Microscope for the diagnosis.
6th SENSE: 6th Sense is a mobile application which translates Sign Language to speech. It is applicable in service delivery facilities to support persons with disability especially the deaf and the dumb and addresses our equity aspirations.
Munu technologies: Munu Technologies Associates (MTA) is an IT company offering business processing outsourcing (BPO) services to organizations seeking operational effectiveness, greater flexibility and lower operating costs.
M-Farmer: M-Farmer software is designed to extend technology services to farmers. This application enables farmers to keep better records, increase efficiency of operations and make informed decisions. It shall help provide support to the farmers including extension services, market and weather information.