WhatsApp announces incubator programme, will select 10 firms to build digital health solutions in India

Meta-owned WhatsApp on Monday announced an incubator programme in India that will select 10 organisations and help them build digital solutions to tackle critical health issues.

Called the WhatsApp Incubator Programme (WIP), the initiative aims to facilitate positive and measurable health outcomes at scale by leveraging the WhatsApp Business Platform.

"During the pandemic we have seen several innovative use cases of the WhatsApp Business Platform by government organisations, civic actors, city administrations and many more NGOs, both large and small, across sectors and locations," said Abhijit Bose, Head of WhatsApp India.

"We hope the WhatsApp Incubator Programme brings forth more such innovative and unique solutions that will help solve India's healthcare needs," he said in a statement.

The 10 selected organisations will be guided through a design thinking-led process to build a deeper understanding and applicability of their WhatsApp-powered solution.

The selected organisations will also be provided with technical support in order to design, prototype and pilot their health use cases.

The company said that participating organisations get the opportunity to be mentored by industry experts, access on-ground ecosystems, receive support with impact measurement guidance, and a chance to network with funders to scale their use cases.

The programme, for which applications are open till December 24, is being administered by Quicksand Design Studio, WhatsApp said.

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