Intron Health has raised $1.6 million in pre-seed funding to revolutionise healthcare systems in developing countries. This health tech company, known for its clinical speech recognition technology, aims to boost productivity for frontline healthcare workers with advanced AI solutions. The funding round, led by Microtraction, saw contributions from Plug and Play Ventures, Jaza Rift Ventures, Octopus Ventures, Africa Health Ventures, OpenseedVC, Pi Campus, Alumni Angel, and Baker Bridge Capital. Angel investors from companies such as Google, CLEAR Global, NYU, and Optum also participated, highlighting Intron Health’s potential.
Launched in 2020, Intron Health addresses the need to streamline healthcare documentation in Africa. The platform recognises over 200 accents, crucial for effective communication and documentation in regions with diverse languages. Founder and CEO Tobi Olatunji, a former doctor in Nigeria, noted the challenge of manual data entry for electronic medical records (EMRs). Intron Health’s AI-driven speech recognition technology, with a 92% accuracy rate, reduces the documentation burden on healthcare providers.
Intron Health’s technology has shown significant impact in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda. It allows doctors to complete documentation seven times faster, accelerating EMR adoption and improving patient care. At the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria, the solution reduced radiology reporting time from 48 hours to 20 minutes. Dr. Oluwatosin Fatade, Chief Resident at the Radiology Department, praised its effectiveness over conventional voice-to-text solutions.
With the new funding, Intron Health plans to enhance its research, cloud-native, and on-premise capabilities and expand its distribution network. The company will recruit top tech talent to support product development and market expansion. Utilising its proprietary dataset of over 3.5 million audio clips from 29 countries, Intron Health continues to refine its algorithms for diverse healthcare settings.
Intron Health partners with Google Research, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Digital Square at PATH to advance healthcare through AI. It is a key player in the AfriMed-QA project, which evaluates large language models (LLMs) for medical question-answering in African clinics. As a member of the Commonwealth Artificial Intelligence Consortium (CAIC), Intron Health aims to extend its solutions to Commonwealth Small States, contributing to global AI-driven healthcare improvements.
Intron Health’s technology is transforming healthcare and exploring applications beyond the medical field. By leveraging localised voice technology, the company envisions AI driving progress in regions historically left behind. With strong investor backing and a dedicated team, Intron Health is set to redefine healthcare documentation and productivity, exemplifying AI’s transformative power in addressing global challenges.
