How Two Entrepreneurs Are Using AI to End Malaria

94% of all malaria cases are in the WHO African Region, with over 608K deaths recorded due to malaria worldwide in 2022. This disease, despite being preventable and treatable, continues to have a devastating impact globally. In an attempt to accelerate the fight against malaria and inch closer to a malaria-free world, World Malaria Day is observed on the 25th of April, 2024. The day serves as a reminder of the health and economic burdens that malaria imposes, particularly in less developed regions. It emphasizes the need for sustained investment and innovation in malaria control and eradication efforts.

Malaria affects hundreds of millions of people each year. It is a leading cause of death in many tropical and subtropical countries, primarily harming children under the age of five and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. Two remarkable entrepreneurs, Kakooza Hakim and Stanley Kinyanjui are building a solution to end malaria through an AI-powered malaria diagnostic tool. They are the brains behind MariTest, an innovative startup developing a groundbreaking, bloodless diagnostic device for malaria. By integrating artificial intelligence with advanced sensor technology, their solution aims to transform how malaria is detected and treated, making the process quicker, easier, and non-invasive.

As key members of the Futurize community, having participated in the Fuel Africa and FuturizeU Incubator programs in 2023, we’re proud to spotlight the two entrepreneurs’ journey from inception to launch on World Malaria Day.

Can you tell us a bit about yourselves?

Kakooza Hakim

Hello! I'm Kakooza Hakim from Uganda. I'm a final-year student at the African Leadership University pursuing my Bachelor's in Entrepreneurial Leadership with the mission to leverage technology and business strategies to enhance healthcare accessibility in remote communities. 

Stanley Kinyanjui

My name is Stanley Kinyanjui, and I’m a Kenyan student at the African Leadership University pursuing a Bachelor’s in Accounting and Business. I have aspirations in politics, particularly aimed at addressing unemployment in Kenya.

What inspired you to build MariTest, and can you tell us about your entrepreneurial journey?

Kakooza: My inspiration to start MariTest came around 2022 when I had a life-threatening experience with malaria during my internship on a remote Ugandan island. The only local clinic had run out of diagnostic tests, and neither did they have a functioning medical laboratory or lab technicians to do the diagnosis. So, I failed to get the medical attention I needed on time, and as a result, I almost lost my life. That’s when I realized the reality of the impact of malaria on this part of the world. 

After the incident, I started researching malaria's impact and visited some refugee camps and more remote communities to see what was happening on the ground. I realized malaria is not just a health threat but a threat to education. In Uganda itself, malaria accounts for 50% of school absenteeism amongst school-going children. It also has economic side effects as people lose work hours because of the rampant disease. Over 30% of hospitalization cases in Uganda are due to malaria, and this is only one country on the continent, so you can only imagine the effect on Sub-Saharan Africa. This evoked a strong frustration, and I felt we needed to come up with a solution.

I had some experience in machine learning and IoT (Internet of Things), and I saw an opportunity to innovate. I teamed up with Stanley and other colleagues to develop a diagnostic device that was not restricted by logistical challenges, didn’t need a medical practitioner, and was reusable so we could cut down on medical waste. That's how we came up with MariTest—an AI-powered bloodless diagnostic device to detect malaria.

We've built two prototypes so far. Our first prototype achieved 60% accuracy in a pre-clinical trial, teaching us valuable lessons and leading us to make significant design improvements. Currently, we are preparing for clinical trials with our updated model and are hopeful that it will make a meaningful difference in malaria diagnosis.

How did being part of Fuel Africa and the FuturizeU incubator program contribute to the development of your startup?

Kakooza: I knew I wanted to do something to tackle malaria, but I didn’t know how. In 2023, when we joined Fuel Africa, Futurize’s entrepreneurship program, it gave us the ‘how.’ We got introduced to mentors, we analyzed the root cause of the problem we wanted to solve, and that’s when we really got our boots on the ground. After that, we joined the FuturizeU incubator program, where we received mentorship from experts in product design and business development and seasoned practitioners in the healthcare industry. We also had the opportunity to travel to Nairobi to pitch MariTest, one of the biggest in-person pitches we’ve ever done. In a nutshell, the FuturizeU Incubator helped us come a step closer to becoming investor-ready.

If I were to highlight the main takeaways from Futurize’s programs, it would be the mentorship opportunities, skill-building workshops, and exposure to an ecosystem of young people building startups.

Could you highlight any significant milestones your startup, MariTest, has achieved?

Hakim: Our team has recently expanded from three to six dedicated individuals and has successfully developed two prototypes. Additionally, we have achieved a significant milestone by becoming a legally registered entity, paving the way for further growth and a greater impact in the field. It is indeed an exciting period for everyone at MariTest.

Stanley: As for our future plans, we aim to raise more funding, complete our clinical trials, achieve ISO certification, and begin operations. Our long-term goal is to become ‘Afri-centric,’ a solution for Africans by Africans.

What would you recommend to students worldwide looking to be entrepreneurs and trying out different business ideas?

Stanley: I would say leverage every opportunity that comes your way—whether it's hackathons, workshops, or mentorship. Today's mindset is changing from ‘go to school get a job’ to ‘go to school and make an impact,’ which is why I believe if you take advantage of the entrepreneurial opportunities available at your school or through organizations like Futurize, you will undoubtedly progress.

Hakim: I can't stress this enough to students looking to become entrepreneurs—you need a team. Even the most groundbreaking idea can only become a reality with the right team behind it. So, find a good team to support your vision. 

Why do you think we need more young entrepreneurs?

Hakim: We have many catastrophes and injustices that surround us—social, economical, health, you name it. These are things that require us as young people to rise up now, to tackle them. We are the best resource that the world has right now. Most countries have young people as the majority of their population, meaning we are the key resource in ending the challenges and the injustices that we are seeing across the different divides of the world. So let's keep on learning. Let's keep on improving our communities. Let's at least leave the world better than the world we found it.

Stanley : The entrepreneurship ecosystem requires energy and energy is synonymous with young people. We, as young people, need to rise up and solve the problems that we are currently facing as humanity. And I believe our forefathers did their part. Elon Musk did his part. Mark Zuckerberg did his part, and we have to do it for our future generations.

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