FemSTEM Africa
Empowering Africa’s Women in Health to Dream, Build, and Lead
FemSTEM Africa is a pan-African entrepreneurship program focused on fostering an increasingly diverse and inclusive health entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa.
Designed by University of Toronto's Health Innovation Hub (H2i) and co-implemented with AHC Partner institutions, the initiative supports female health entrepreneurs in building and scaling thriving health ventures on the continent.
Participants benefit from a well-curated array of programs such as:
FemSTEM Africa 2026
- Kickoff Event & Panel | March 31, 2026 | 8:00 – 9:30 AM ET / 2:00 – 3:30 PM CAT (Virtual)
- Pitch Applications Open | April 1, 2026 to April 15, 2026
- 1st Fireside at FemSTEM Africa | April 6, 2026 | 8:00 – 9:00 AM ET / 2:00 – 3:00 PM CAT (Virtual)
- 2nd Fireside at FemSTEM Africa | April 22, 2026 | 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET / 7:00 – 8:00 PM CAT (Virtual)
- 3rd Fireside at FemSTEM Africa | May 5, 2026 | 8:00 – 9:00 AM ET / 2:00 – 3:00 PM CAT (Virtual)
- FemSTEM Africa Workshop (open to all) & Mentor Day (finalists) | June 1 – 2, 2026 (In-Person at Kumasi, Ghana)
- FemSTEM Africa Pitch Competition | June 2, 2026 (In-Person at Kumasi, Ghana)
Winning Ventures
(Founder & CEO)
Grow With Me Prostheses develops adjustable, child-centered prosthetic solutions that adapt with the growing needs of the user. Our venture is committed to creating affordable, functional devices for children in low-resource settings worldwide, improving mobility, independence, and quality of life.
(Co-founder & CEO)
Haki Labs is building East Africa’s first climate-optimized sexual assault evidence collection kit, solving the forensic evidence gap that denies survivors justice: DNA degrades within 48 hours in tropical heat, breaking cases in court. We do this through climate-proof kits and offline digital chain-of-custody tracking generating instant court-admissible PDF reports.
(Co-founder & CEO)
Inzozi Glasses is an assistive technology venture developing smart glasses that use facial and surroundings recognition to support blind and visually impaired people with safe navigation, independence, and meaningful social interaction using local languages and dialects. Our solution enhances inclusion, accessibility, and daily mobility using affordable AI-powered wearable technology.
(Co-founder)
OneClick-Med is a digital health platform improving healthcare access through interoperable electronic medical records and patient-centered care tools. We connect patients, hospitals, and providers to reduce delays, prevent medical errors, and ensure continuity of care across Africa.
(Co-founder and Compliance Lead)
Founded in 2023, PearlOxy is a medical oxygen startup dedicated to solving the critical shortage of reliable oxygen supply in Sub-Saharan Africa. We are developing the Medium-Pressure Oxygen Storage System, an automatic backup solution that ensures uninterrupted oxygen delivery during power outages for critically ill patients in low-resource hospitals.
(CEO)
StainSmart Innovations focuses on building affordable diagnostic solutions for underserved healthcare systems. Our flagship device, LASS, automates slide staining for 30+ samples per cycle, reducing turnaround times and workload. With multi-protocol capability and AI-powered image analysis, LASS improves the speed and accuracy of disease diagnosis in resource-limited settings.
Watch the Replay
FemSTEM Africa 2025
Winning Ventures
Neosave Technologies Limited is a medical technology company focused on improving neonatal care by combating hypothermia in newborns. Its flagship product, the Autothermo, is a wearable device that continuously monitors temperature, heart rate, and oxygen levels, sending real-time alerts to a central display dashboard with color-coded emojis. Emojis help nurses to identify and respond to critical cases as fast as possible.
Kosmotive is a social enterprise improving menstrual, maternal, and reproductive health through affordable, eco-friendly products and digital education in Rwanda. Its flagship solutions, KosmoPads and KosmoHealth, empower women and girls with dignity, knowledge, and economic opportunity; thus promoting Feminine Freedom despite the Flow.
Pro Plus is transforming maternal healthcare in Africa by combining digital innovation with last-mile service delivery. Through its flagship platform, Kasa Africa, the company connects women to essential healthcare services, trusted providers, and maternal products, ensuring care that is accessible, affordable, and continuous throughout pregnancy and beyond.
Event Recap
Plenary
Hackathon
Pitch Competition
FemSTEM Africa 2024
Winning Ventures
URUKUNDO Initiative is a youth led social enterprise committed to revolutionizing Life Skills especially Sexual Reproductive Health and Mental Health education in Africa through play based innovations.
Through URUKUNDO Life Skills BOARD GAME; a globally multi-awards winning board and cards based game available physically and digitally which provide evidence based Life Skills information in friendly, interactive and inclusive fashion to young people everywhere.
The Smart Postpartum Haemorrhage Volumetric Drape (SMART-PVD), by PUMZI Devices, is a device that performs accurate and real-time estimation of blood loss. The goal of this device is to aid in the timely diagnosis of Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH) so as to drastically reduce maternal morbidity and mortality by empowering skilled birth attendants with a tool that enables them to make evidence-based decisions in the management of PPH while improving their productivity and patient satisfaction in the long run.
PlyChain leverages blockchain technology to verify the authenticity of pharmaceuticals through secure QR codes, ensuring patient safety by providing an immutable, transparent record of each drug’s journey from manufacturer to consumer.
Get in contact
Interantional Programs and Communications Coordinator
FemSTEM Africa News & Updates
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FemSTEM Africa 2026: Kickoff Event & Panel
Join Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) & U of T on Tuesday, March 31 as we kickoff the FemSTEM Africa 2026 event series!
Beyond the Pitch: The Stories Driving FemSTEM Africa 2025
In Kigali, six women took the stage — each carrying a story shaped by experience. From newborn survival to menstrual health and maternal care, their ventures were more than ideas; they were solutions born from lived realities.
African Women Innovating in Health Care
This year, FemSTEM Africa engaged over 200 health innovators and enthusiasts through a series of events, concluding in a pitch competition and interactions with seasoned entrepreneurs. The five-part event series was organized by the University of Toronto’s Health Innovation Hub (H2i) in partnership with Social Enterprise (SE) Ghana, Sustineri Attorneys, supported by funding from the […]
