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January 28th, 2016
- Merck launches equity-free accelerator program for digital health in Nairobi
- Second round of the program in Germany is also globally looking for startups in healthcare, life sciences, performance materials and IT
Darmstadt, January 28th, 2016 - Merck, a leading science and technology company, announces the start of its equity-free accelerator program for digital health startups in Nairobi, Kenya today. With this step, Merck takes the program's presence to a global level. Currently, the company is also globally kicking off the application period for the second round of its accelerator program in Germany. Both programs are first steps for the accelerator to become a global platform.
The three-month program in Nairobi, Kenya, will support three startups in the field of digital health with working space at the Nairobi Garage, an equity-free funding of 15,000 USD as well as opening the doors to Merck's global network of experts for ongoing coaching and mentoring.
"With our program in Nairobi and our growing international network, we made a first big step to go truly global with our accelerator. We want to create a platform where the potential to execute ideas is not limited by location," says Michael Gamber, Head of Merck Innovation Center.
Nairobi is the first Merck Accelerator outside of Germany. "Africa is one of the most promising and dynamic markets for digital health, driven by a vibrant and innovative startup culture. With our Accelerator program, we aim to become part of it," explains Gamber.
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News ReleaseThe three-month program in Germany comes with an equity-free funding of 25,000 Euros, regular coachings and office space at the Merck Innovation Center at the headquarters in Darmstadt. Both programs are going to be strongly connected in terms of expertise and knowledge exchange to grow a global Accelerator network.
"Coming from a global company we also want to develop our accelerator program to become a global platform. The execution of an idea should not be limited by the conditions of the location where it was born," explains Gamber.
Interested founder teams can apply for both of the programs on the website until February 29th, 2016.
Merck is committed to supporting healthy families, healthy communities and healthy economies in Africa. By 2020, the company intends to more than double its workforce in Africa and more than double its sales on this company. Currently, Merck has around 400 employees across ten African countries and aims to increase this number to around 1,000 by 2020. Merck's largest location in Africa is in South Africa, from where the company also steers business in South-East Africa including Kenya, Angola and Mozambique. Merck's sales in Africa climbed to around € 200 million in 2015 and are expected to reach € 500 million by 2020.
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Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life - from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2014, Merck generated sales of € 11.3 billion in 66 countries.
Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck, Darmstadt, Germany holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.
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Merck KGaA issued this content on 28 January 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 28 January 2016 11:10:07 UTC
Original Document: http://news.merck.de/N/0/37E90A8C7C15C2DFC1257F48003A260F/$File/20160128_EN_Release_Accelerator-Start_Round2.pdf
