WhatsApp launches incubator prog for organisations to build solutions for healthcare issues

PTI, Dec 6, 2021, 3:56 PM IST

Chennai: WhatsApp on Monday announced an incubator program to support organisations in building digital solutions to tackle pressing healthcare issues.

The ‘WhatsApp Incubator Program’ aims to facilitate positive and measurable health outcomes at scale by leveraging the WhatsApp Business Platform.

”The program aims to identify 10 selected organisations tackling critical health issues. They will be guided through a design thinking-led process to build a deeper understanding and applicability of their WhatsApp-powered solution,” it said in a statement.

The selected organisations will be provided with technical support in order to design, prototype, and pilot their health use cases. Abhijit Bose, Head of WhatsApp India, said technology has been the most critical instrument in India’s fight against COVID. ”During the pandemic, we have seen several innovative use cases of the WhatsApp Business Platform by government organisations, civic actors, city administrations, and many more NGOs, both large and small, across sectors and locations,” Bose said.

He hoped the program brings forth more such innovative and unique solutions that will help solve India’s healthcare needs.

Registrations for the program are open for entrepreneurs, NGOs, startups, and any other organisations that have innovative ideas to tackle issues of general immunisation, mental health and maternal health among others.

Participating organisations would get the opportunity to be mentored by industry experts, access on-ground ecosystems, receive support with impact measurement guidance, and a chance to network with funders to scale their use cases, WhatsApp said. Applications for the program will be open till December 24, 2021.