National Health Incubator (NHI)

NHI offers incubation and investment services for healthcare service providers and producers of healthcare technology and innovation across Pakistan

The ultimate goals of NHI are:

  • To provide Design thinking workshops and prototype testing, tailored advisory, subject matter expertise, access to recent research and data, Access to Co-Working Space(s), and investment readiness services to select businesses to help them develop, deploy and/or adopt health technologies and innovation.
  • To enable select businesses to develop and execute a growth strategy through long term financing, investments & commercial linkages.

WHO IS THIS PROGRAM FOR?

Businesses with new, innovative and unique business models offering innovative, highly value adding, scalable and technological solutions, demonstrating potential for causing positive economic and social transformation will be preferred.


You are eligible to apply if you fall under one of the following segments:

  • Producers:
    • Launch: Ideas or Startups with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), a health technology and/or innovation, that has gone through the first customer test
    • Growth: Existing businesses aiming to grow their existing health technologies or innovation;
  • Adopters: Existing healthcare service providers who are looking to adopt a new or an existing healthcare technology or innovation within their operations

National Health Incubator consists of two main components

Business Incubation Services

Select entrepreneurs are offered design thinking workshops and prototype testing, remote training and advisory, business coaching, mentoring, subject matter expertise, access to co-working space(s) and commercial and investor linkages.

Financing Services

Select entrepreneurs will pitch their business to Accelerate Prosperity, other financial institutions, impact investment funds from Pakistan and overseas for securing financing/ investments

Incubation Services:

  • Ideation and Prototyping: Focuses on innovation and product/ service development by using design thinking approach and finalization/ fine tuning of prototypes
  • Trainings: Develop and/or improve business model and execution plan and present a case for potential financing and/or investment
  • Advisory: Mentorship and technical advisory from successful entrepreneurs, subject matter experts and business coaches
  • Research and Data: Access to recent research and data
  • Investments: Patient financing, investments and/ or investor linkages that enable the businesses to commercialize and/ or adopt the intended health innovation and technology
  • Co-Working Space(s): That allows entrepreneurs to use it as their office spaces for 1 year from the time they are selected for incubation and attend all phases of incubation in person or virtually
  • Legal Services: Advisory to formalize the business, meet all legal and compliance requirements to be able make their business investment ready
  • Intellectual Property: Learn the process of securing IPs to secure new technology and innovation
  • Market Linkages and Commercialization Opportunities: Access to relevant market linkages

Financing Information:

  • Instrument: Patient debt
  • Interest rate: Net 8%
  • Term: up to 10 years
  • Ticket size: Up to PKR 15 million
  • Other Requirements: Mortgage land or building

The Complete National Health Incubator Journey of an Entrepreneur

Step 1:

Submission of Application

Step 2:

Interviews of Shortlisted Applications

Step 3:

Design Thinking Workshops and Prototyping

Step 4:

Business Training & Advisory: Online training sessions, one on one and group advisory

Step 5:

Pitch for Financing/ Investment

Step 6:

Due Diligence by AP team

Step 7:

Offer of Financing/ Investment

What is our Selection Criteria?

Business Criteria

  • A unique and innovative business model with potential for causing or contributing to a transformative effect in the health sector, specifically in terms of improving quality of services, increasing access, convenience and/ or affordability.
  • A clear market niche, sound target market and customer base.
  • Realistic competitive advantage in terms of price, quality and easy/ large access.
  • Strong revenue and profit models, potential for scalability and growth.
  • Strong value chain effect.
  • The business demonstrates positive environmental and sustainable development (impact) effect.

Personal Criteria

  • Strong entrepreneurial traits, including (but not limited to) leadership qualities, risk taking, street smartness, ability to do more with less etc.
  • Coachable team, including (but not limited to) openness to advisory, learn, ability and openness to constantly iterate, adapt and evolve based on changing conditions, realities or assumptions etc.
  • Past experience in doing business, or as an employee in a similar industry, or subject matter expertise relevant to the product/ service.
  • Strong interest in the health sector and the idea/ business being proposed, with significant skin in the business.

Are you an entrepreneur with an innovative and transformational business idea or startup?

To learn more about National Health Incubator:

Download our brochure
Apply now

ORGANIZING PARTNERS

The overall objective of the Accelerate Prosperity (AP) initiative is to promote entrepreneurship and the creation of sustainable Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs), with a focus on youth and women in fragile contexts. Its mandate is to facilitate creation of Small and Growing Businesses (SGB), which are “commercially viable businesses with a potential to create between 5 to 250 jobs”.

This is a fit for purpose initiative undertaken by the Aga Khan Foundation and Industrial Promotion Services of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development. AP complements broader economic-related programs of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and draws significantly on technical expertise from other AKDN institutions, whilst coordinating efforts with other partners.

Ultimately, AP aims to contribute to inclusive economic development by catalyzing SGBs, promoting entrepreneurship amongst women and youth, and creating space and networks to facilitate technical expertise and creative financial solutions that can bridge the gaps between entrepreneurs, investors, governments and donors, as well as forging the link to higher learning, for the betterment of economic development.

The Aga Khan University is a pioneering institution of higher education that works to improve quality of life in the developing world and beyond. The University operates programmes in campuses in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the United Kingdom, and treats more than 2 million patients per year at seven hospitals and more than 350 medical centres. A study of AKU’s impact in Pakistan, conducted by U.S.-based Centennial Group International, found that AKU has an annual economic impact in Pakistan of US$ 1 billion, and directly and indirectly supports 42,000 jobs annually.