Pakistani blockchain startup grabs second spot at a global entrepreneurship challenge

A Pakistani startup named “Azaad Health” has won the second place at the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) (Tech-I) Competition, at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Bahrain. Azaad Health was one of the 24 finalists who was representing 18 different countries in this competition.

The startup received an award of 8000 USD Seed Capital, 20,000 Amazon Web Services (AWS) credits and 3 months of further mentoring from the experts.

The GIST initiative was first announced by the U.S. State Department on February 2019 and received over 500 applications from entrepreneurs around the world. Out of those 500 applications the 24 teams were selected and were given online training program to prepare for the 2-day competition held at Global Entrepreneurship Congress from 14-16 April. Before making their final pitch the teams were given extensive training, mentorship, and the opportunity to meet with the global leader in their respective fields.

The founder of Azaad Health, Syed Abrar said, “It’s been a long journey from where we first started, from incubation at The Nest I/O in Karachi to winning the GIST (Tech-I) competition in Bahrain. The competition was intimidating no doubt, but the team, mentors, and alums present there did an amazing job of making us feel like a part of the global entrepreneurial tribe”.

What is Azaad Health?

AzaadHealth initiative is a global patient-owned health data exchange network built upon blockchain, The startup aims to empower patients by democratizing health records, by pulling and combining health data from multiple disparate sources like personal wellness devices, healthcare providers, and other sources.

Abrar also said that the purpose behind initiating this startup was to empower patients by giving them access to their data and also allowing the doctors to give necessary treatment to their patients at the right time.

The winner of the GIST competition was Donatus Njoroge of Kenya, who is the founder of Vinis Limited. Vinis Limited is a bio-pesticides startup initiated to combat the crop pests problem and to increase the crop yields by using essential oils.