Nigerian tracking and monitoring healthtech startup, Chekkit, has been named as one of 12 startups selected into the 8th cohort of Merck Accelerator program. Members of the cohort were selected from all over the world with Chekkit being the only one selected from Africa.
Chekkit is a Nigeria-based startup that focuses on ensuring product integrity across the value chain.
Merck accelerator is organized by the Merck Innovation center launched by the German healthcare center, Merck Group. Through the accelerator, startups are provided with individual coaching and equity funding of up to $55,000 to accelerate business operations and scaling.
The coaching will be provided for three months during which the startups will individually receive support from experts within the Merck network. After the first funding and coaching has been received by the startups, Chekkit and the other selected startups stand a chance to join the Merck China Innovation Hub in Shanghai.
Chekkit was founded by Dare Odumade (an inventor and a UI/UX expert) and Jida Asare (a Pharmacist and software developer). Since it launched, the startup has developed two solutions; the Consumer Intelligence, and Supply Chain Tracking.
With its blockchain technology, Chekkit is able to monitor premium packaged goods and products through the unique tamper-proof ID it gives to individual products. With the IDs, it is able to ensure that the product that was dispatched is the same product that is received. This makes it easy to also track and trace products by manufacturers.
Chekkit was one of 503 startups from 65 countries that applied for the Merck Accelerator. According to the head of Merck Accelerator, Munya Chivasa, the process which was carried out by over 200 of Merck’s experts is targeted at choosing startups that can collaborate to disrupt the industry further.
“Working with startups has brought numerous opportunities to different areas of Merck and we are constantly adapting and evolving these programs to make them even more fruitful for both sides.”
Munya Chivasa, Head of the Merck Accelerator,
According to CBinsghts, the health-tech startup has previously raised funding from Startup bootcamp Afritech. The startup is one of the 2019 cohorts of the Facebook Start accelerator and has partners among industry players which include Redington seamless partnerships, Cisco and the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
The startup also sealed a partnership deal with the Fantom Foundation for their blockchain product and received a grant from Umdasch Challenge at World Summit Awards 2020.
The careful selection process which had Chekkit joining the Merck team re-emphasizes the importance of the services being delivered in the area of health-tech by the Chekkit team.
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