PRESS RELEASE: OUI Inc. selected by IFC’s TechEmerge Health East Africa -Building new ophthalmic Remote Diagnosis Model to Connect Rural and Urban Areas in Kenya-
OUI Inc. a Japanese medical startup founded by ophthalmologists from Keio University School of Medicine, has been selected by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for TechEmerge Health East Africa.
With the support of the IFC, we will continue to work on the development of new remote diagnosis model for ophthalmology that connects rural and urban areas in Kenya using the Smart Eye Camera (SEC) that we have developed, collaborating with our local partner, Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital.
About TechEmerge Health East Africa
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is the world’s largest international development institution focused on private sector development in developing countries.
TechEmerge Health East Africa, organized by the IFC, matches technology companies from around the world (medical technology, medical devices, etc.) with major healthcare providers in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia) to support pilot projects.
This is a mutually beneficial collaboration in which healthcare providers in East Africa can expect to improve their medical services through technology, and technology companies can receive support to start their business in East Africa.
Among the 415 applications from technology companies from 50 countries, 17 companies from 11 countries, including OUI Inc., proposed 20 pilot projects in collaboration with local medical institutions, which were selected for IFC support.
OUI Inc. is the only Japanese company to be selected.
With the support of the IFC grant, selected pilot projects will be undertaken in collaboration with local medical institutions and healthcare providers.
※The selected pilot projects in TechEmerge Health East Africa
https://www.techemerge.org/pilots/267
※IFC TechEmerge Health East Africa website
https://www.techemerge.org/country/tech-emerge-east-africa
About OUI Inc. and Smart Eye Camera(SEC)
OUI Inc. is Japanese medical startup founded by ophthalmologists from Keio University School of Medicine in July 2016 with the mission of “contribute to the growth of medicine”.
We developed SEC, a smartphone attachment medical device that enables to diagnose anterior segment of the eye, from scratch and completed it in about a year and a half.
Cataracts are the number one cause of world blindness SEC is a small medical device that attaches to the smartphone, enabling eye examinations in any location, including areas without electricity and areas under natural disaster.
Currently, there are 36 million blind people in the world, and it is reported that the number will increase to 120 million in 2050, 30 years from now. From 2019, we have started pilot projects of SEC in countries such as Vietnam, Mongolia, Zambia, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where many patients are suffering from difficulty in access to eyecare. In April 2020, we joined the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). We aim to reduce blindness by 50% worldwide by 2025 by promoting SEC both in Japan and worldwide.
Company Information
OUI Inc. is Japanese Medical startup founded by ophthalmologists from Keio University School of Medicine. With a mission to “contribute to the growth of medicine,” OUI Inc. will continue to create the best medical services by returning the knowledge and skills of professional medical doctors to all medical fields.
Company Name: OUI Inc.
Website: https://ouiinc.jp/en
Direction: 3F, 1–36–2, Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, 160–0022 Tokyo, JAPAN
CEO: Dr. Eisuke SHIMIZU, MD, PhD
Founded: 15th July, 2016
CONTACT: pr@ouiinc.jp
This article is also available from PR TIMES (English follows after Japanese): https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000002.000064389.html
