Web-based health-care platform NOOSi was co-founded as a partnership between Dr Sumarie Roodt and veteran nurse Catherine Williams.
Roodt is the head of the UCT Tech4Good Lab, and Williams has a wealth of nursing experience spanning over three decades.
NOOSi is a health-care website that connects users to verified and professional nurses that can provide home-based health-care as soon as it is needed.
This can be made available virtually or in person, depending on the circumstance.
The web-based health-care platform connects customers with licensed, experienced nurses who can deliver home health-care as soon as it is required.
Depending on the situation, this can be provided in person or online.
The website was named after the Yoruba word for ‘healer’ and was launched earlier this month.
NOOSi provides services like counselling, treatment of chronic illnesses, and mental and psychiatric care.
Patients can also use NOOSi to compare a list of registered providers in their area with their list of health-care requirements.
Roodt says the platform was created from a desire to reinvigorate the South African health-care system.
“We believe that this can be achieved in a way that simultaneously empowers hard-working nurses with new and improved employment opportunities,” she said.
“This also affords patients with a means of gaining affordable and accessible healthcare,” she added.
Roodt said by having a purpose-led mission, NOOSi has gained requests from multiple investors, which helped them raise their pre-seed investment earlier this year.
The pre-seed investment was received from Anton Musgrave, a partner at Futureworld International, and Vanessa September, the CEO of the Constitutional Hill Trust.
Musgrave said as an entrepreneur and seasoned start-up investor, he noticed that NOOSi’s vision has exponential growth potential.
“As healthcare has become a prominent global issue, we have seen tremendous growth in initiatives that prioritise the well-being of the public, and the home-based health-care market is case-in-point,” he said.
September said across the globe, it has become evident that people are acknowledging their right to good health.
“We must develop interventions that are patient-centric and approaches that ensure that health-care services are in-tune with patient needs,” she said.
She continued: “When hearing about this initiative, I was very keen to add my support in the form of an investment.
“I was inspired by its aim to empower health-care workers and those in need of care.