Global healthcare company, Organon partners with Flat6Labs to launch the Femtech Accelerator Program to support female-led start-ups operating in the digital healthcare space in MENA. The partnership was signed in the Expo 2020, USA Pavilion, marking the launch of Organon in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey. The partnership is the kickoff of the company’s vision to work closely with partners in the region to empower innovative women’s healthcare programs.   

Organon is a global healthcare company formed through a spinoff from Merck, also known as MSD, to focus on improving the health of women throughout their lives. Commenting on the program, Susanne Fiedler, Chief Commercial Officer of Organon, said, “As a new regional healthcare entity with a commitment to advancing the health of women in this region, we are very excited to launch this program supporting female entrepreneurs. We know that investing in women has far-reaching benefits, reaping dividends for families, local and national communities, and economies.   We will continue to listen to women’s needs to better understand the gaps and identify the right solutions for a better and healthier every day for her.”   

Ramy Koussa, Associate Vice President at Organon MENAT, added: “COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation across industries, including healthcare. Due to restrictions on our movements and the strain on healthcare services globally, digital transformation has served as an important tool to enable both management of the coronavirus, as well as maintaining essential healthcare services. The future of healthcare is digital, and this accelerator program has been created to help facilitate that transformation in our region by delivering new and innovative digital tools to improve women’s healthcare. Organon is committed to building a company based on Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles and today’s announcement represents an important milestone in our commitment to working in partnership with key stakeholders across MENAT to advance women’s health”

Dina El-Shenoufy, Chief Investment Officer at Flat6labs, added, “Globally, both the current startup landscape as well as the healthcare industry are male-dominated spaces. If we are to achieve greater gender equity, while supporting economic development across MENA, we need to do more to support female entrepreneurs and advance women’s healthcare. Our newly launched Femtech accelerator will meet this need and that of greater digital innovation in the healthcare space while demonstrating the importance of cross-industry collaboration to further the goals of female economic empowerment.”

Those startups selected to participate in the accelerator program will be female-founded and demonstrate that they can address unmet women’s needs in line with Organon’s mission to advance women’s health. Ten of the best startups will be invited to join the two-month intensive accelerator program following a selection process and receive support in turning their idea into a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and securing venture funding.

Flat6labs will provide business and technical training and access to their local and regional partner networks. Participating startups will be connected to businesses, local and international experts, and access big data and new opportunities. Organon, meanwhile, will mentor participants, connect them with global industry experts, and provide access to their entire business network, including internal teams and external partners.