CMED Health, the Dhaka-based preventative healthcare startup, has won The HEAD Foundation Innovative Social Enterprise Award at the DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia (SVC Asia) 2018, a six-month long competition, jointly organized by NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore, and DBS Foundation. As part of the award, CMED will receive S$20,000 as prize money. CMED Health is the first enterprise from Bangladesh to win the prestigious award.
CMED Health Founder Professor Khondoker A. Mamun told FS that it will use the prize money in R&D and expanding its operations.
“Non-communicable diseases, like diabetes and hypertension often go unnoticed for years, leading to a major healthcare burden. However, these diseases and their consequences are preventable through regular health monitoring – and CMED Health is trying to address this social burden through our proprietary software platform embedded with health-risk assessment algorithm. From SVC Asia, we got structured learning on making a more social impact through our work and access to networks. CMED Health will invest the SVC Asia prize money into further R&D, as well as expand our operations,” said Professor Khondoker A. Mamun, Founder of CMED Health.
This year, 870 Social enterprises competed from 42 countries in Asia. SVC Asia has been running this challenge for the last 5 years. The year’s competition started with an ambition to identify and support innovative new ideas and existing social ventures that have the potential to generate positive, scalable and sustainable social impact. A total of S$135,000 in cash prizes was handed out to five winning teams of the 2018 DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia (SVC Asia). In addition to the top three prizes this year, there were special awards sponsored by our Sector Champion The HEAD Foundation, and Valued Partner Experian.
CMED Health, a spin-off of AIMS Lab, United International University, is a social good healthcare start-up that aims to provide regular health monitoring for preventative health care, which is done through its AI-enabled, cloud-based healthcare solution. It allows users to screen their health vitals such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and BMI, using IoT-enabled smart medical devices. This data is then automatically stored in a secure cloud server, which can be accessed by the user anytime. The startup provides health services to corporates as well as equips pharmacies to offer health services. It has also a program where it trains certified health agents to provide these health services across rural locations, educating society’s most vulnerable section on the importance of regular health screenings and practices to lead a healthier life.
