Investing in Impact

What if the biggest barrier to innovation is not funding, but the story we tell about what is worth funding? In the final episode of Investing in Impact, recorded at the IDIA Summit in Nairobi, host Moses Waweru is joined by Nivi Sharma and Nashiru Salifu to explore what it really means to build innovations that last. As global capital shifts and old development models give way, locally grounded i...

What does inclusion look like when global support systems start to pull back? In Episode 4 of Investing in Impact, recorded at the IDIA Summit in Nairobi, host Kippy Joseph, Senior Fellow at Results for Development, leads a conversation with Royford Mutegi, Co-Founder of Vermi-Farm, Katie Alesbury, Senior Strategic Initiatives Lead at Value for Women, and Snider Mugese, Director of Operations &amp...

What would it take to build a truly self-determined, resilient health ecosystem in Africa? In Episode 3 of Investing in Impact, recorded at the IDIA Summit in Nairobi, host Moses Waweru sits down with Prof Mirkuzie Woldie, Senior Health Policy and Systems Advisor at the Ministry of Health Ethiopia, Gina Lagomarsino, CEO of Results for Development, and Thomas Davin, Global Innovation Director at UN...

Who's filling the gap when donor funding exits, and what will it take to build markets that don't need permission to grow? In this second episode of Investing in Impact, host Moses Waweru sits down with David Saunders and Efosa Ojomo to tackle a question reshaping the continent's health innovation landscape: as donor capital retreats, who steps in and on what terms? Together, they expl...

What if funding constraints aren't a crisis — but a catalyst? In this debut episode of Investing in Impact, host Moses Waweru sits down with Dr. Tonny Omwansa, Evelyn Gitau, and Yasmin Chandani at the IDIA Summit in Nairobi to explore a provocative idea: that the shift in donor funding may be exactly the pressure African health innovation needed to grow up. Together, they unpack what it really...

As Villgro Africa celebrates 10 years of pioneering health innovation on the continent, we’re not just looking back—we’re looking forward. In this powerful season finale, host Moses Waweru is joined by Wilfred Njagi (CEO of Villgro Africa), Naom Monari (Founder and CEO of Benacare), and Rob Schneider (Executive Director of the Lemelson Foundation).  Together, they explore what lies ahead for Afric...

Welcome back to Investments for Impact ! This season, Scaling for Impact: 10 Years of Villgro Africa , we’re celebrating a decade of health innovation incubation in Africa—reflecting on the journey so far and what lies ahead. In this episode, we explore the critical role of partnerships in scaling health innovation. From funders and incubators to global and local collaborations, strategic relation...

Welcome back to Investments for Impact! This season, Scaling for Impact: 10 Years of Villgro Africa, we’re celebrating a decade of building Africa’s health innovation ecosystem. In this episode, we explore the key moment when Villgro Africa truly started to take shape. It all began with one connection—Ken Simiyu, then at Grand Challenges Canada and now with USAID, who introduced our three founders...

Join us for the first episode of Scaling for Impact: 10 Years of Villgro Africa, our sixth season of Investments for Impact. We are celebrating 10 years of Villgro Africa and, more importantly, 10 years of the African healthcare incubation ecosystem. In this episode, we’re taking a deep dive into the origins of Villgro Africa. How did a vision born in India come to impact Africa? Host Moses Waweru...

We have reached the final episode of our series on African MedTech and in this episode, we welcome George Murumba from AUDA-NEPAD. This episode covers market shaping efforts in the African MedTech space and we discuss AUDA-NEPAD's role in promoting local manufacturing, their work to de-risk companies for investors, and how their acceleration program is also supporting innovation in this space....

In the fourth episode of our series on African MedTech, we are very excited to welcome Dr. Stanley Aruyaru, a surgeon and the Chief Medical Officer at PCEA Kikuyu Hospital. So far this season, we have discussed MedTech from the perspective of how to make medical devices and how to get those medical devices to the places they are needed. Today, we are discussing MedTech from the perspective of the...

In the third episode of our series on African MedTech, we are very excited to welcome Uche Chidi-Anene, the current CEO of the African Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP), which was created during COVID-19 and continues to enable African Union Member States to purchase certified medical equipment with increased cost effectiveness and transparency. Uche speaks with me about the structure of the AMSP a...

This episode if Investments for Impact welcomes Professor Sudesh Sivarasu, who walks us through the medical device development process. Prof Sudesh has a compelling personal story, is passionate about the potential impact of medical devices, and has significant experience developing medical devices on the African continent. Join us for a very engaging, interesting episode! For more information abo...

In anticipation of the second annual Transforming African MedTech Conference, which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya in August 2024, this season of Investments for Impact is focused on MedTech. For this first episode, Moses Waweru sits down with Eng. Wambui Gachiengo Nyabero to set the stage, looking at why it's important to manufacture our own MedTech in Africa, the main challenges and oppor...

For this episode, we welcome Dr. Melissa Omino (LLD), an intellectual property, AI policy and data governance expert to discuss what is being done in AI regulation in Africa. Moses and Dr. Melissa discuss the vital importance of regulation in this sector, and how innovators have the opportunity to shift their perspective on regulation.

Episode 3 of this season is focused on the perspective of a founder. We invite Tom Kinyanji, co-founder of Neural Labs Africa, to talk about his journey, including how he initially became interested in artificial intelligence, why he started Neural Labs Africa, and what they hope to achieve with their innovation.

This season of Investments for Impact is focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and how it can impact the African health sector. In this second episode, learn more about AI as a technology, including its potential and the ways it has been misunderstood from Mutembei Kariuki , the Co-Founder and CEO of Fastagger . Investments for Impact is hosted by ⁠Moses Waweru⁠ and produced by ⁠Joelle Mumley⁠ a...

This season of Investments for Impact is focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and how it can impact the African health sector. Join us in this first episode to hear about Villgro Africa's journey in supporting AI entrepreneurs, why we have prioritised it in our work, and what we hope it can do for the quality and accessibility of healthcare moving forward. Investments for Impact is hosted b...

The final episode of Season 3 is a special bonus episode focused on USAID's DIV program , which provides grant funding for breakthrough solutions to the world's toughest development challenges. We welcome Liz Chacko , who walks us through the details of the program, advice for entrepreneurs who are applying, and some success stories of past awardees! One correction: When Liz says that Zola...

Investments for Impact is a Villgro Africa podcast. Season 3 is brought to you by Villgro Africa and Jaza Rift Ventures. As a way of wrapping up our previous discussions, this episode takes a broader look at what investors are looking for. We were lucky to have one of our own, Steve Njenga, Investment and Transaction Lead at Villgro Africa, as well as Loise Warui, Investment Lead at Adanian Labs t...

Investments for Impact is a Villgro Africa podcast. Season 3 is brought to you by Villgro Africa and Jaza Rift Ventures. For our fifth episode, focused on venture capital, we have two guests: Arnold Maina from DOB Equity and Jason Musyoka from From Here Ventures. Listen in on our conversation to learn more about the purposes of venture capital, the types of business that fit (and don’t fit) with t...

Investments for Impact is a Villgro Africa podcast. Season 3 is brought to you by Villgro Africa and Jaza Rift Ventures. Our fourth episode is all about angel investing and our guest is Stephen Gugu, one of the most prominent voices in the angel investing space on the continent. Along with founding Viktoria Ventures, he is also an advisor to the African Business Angel Network. We hope you enjoy ou...

Investments for Impact is a Villgro Africa podcast. Season 3 is brought to you by Villgro Africa and Jaza Rift Ventures. For our third episode, we welcome Elizabeth Laitete from Africa Grant Advisors, the perfect guest since we are discussing the grant funding stage of fundraising. We discuss the advantages of grants, some misconceptions, as well as pitfalls to avoid when applying for grant fundin...

Investments for Impact is a Villgro Africa podcast. Season 3 is brought to you by Villgro Africa and Jaza Rift Ventures. For our second episode of the season, we had the chance to host Joram Mwinamo of SNDBX and tapped into his vast experience in the African startup and innovation ecosystem. We discussed whether or not African startups utilise family and friends fundraising and why we hear less ab...

We are excited to invite you back for our third season, in which we will focus on the topic of fundraising, including the overall fundraising landscape in Africa, as well as a deep dive into each stage that a young company raising capital goes through (from family and friends all the way to venture capital).  In this first episode, we are setting the scene for you. Our host, Moses Waweru, was join...