The African wearable tech space
The African wearable tech space
Smart watches from Samsung and Apple are leading march (well maybe slow match) towards increased use of wearables on the African continent
According to The International Data Corporation’s Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker in in the first quarter of 2017 there was 30.2% increase in wearable to Middle East and African and growing
Samsung gear and Apple iWatch seem to gaining traction as ai see more of them amongst my acquaintances and work colleagues
There are 2 Interesting African tech companies, I found in the space
Cladlight( Health and Safety)
Widely believed to be one of Africa’s first wearable tech companies, according to cruchbase CladLight is a wearable technology company that seeks to increase the visibility of the motorcycle rider. The CladLight electronic gadget features bright LED lights that clearly show the when the rider intends to turn or stop.
The control of the lights is done automatically from a sensor installed in the motorcycle. It communicates with Bluetooth ensuring reliable real-time indication system synchronization.
LifeQ ( Partnering for wearables in Health)
LifeQ , now a global company headquartered in Atlanta , started in the city of Stellenbosch in South Africa . The company is one of the more interesting health startups coming out of the African continent.
LifeQ’s mission as an organization enable health optimization in individuals by “computational systems biology” and “bio-mathematical modelling” approach to extract and deliver of relevant and meaningful person-specific digital biomarkers from various curated data sources.
They do this with 3 main product lines LifeQ Lens, LifeQ Core and LifeQ Link and through collaborations with insurance and corporate wellness firms , who use this data to make better informed decisions for their clients, essentially creating an ecosystem of partners who help extract the information or use that information for relevant and better information across the globe.
In 2016 LifeQ partnered with wearables company Striiv to leverage their product LifeQLens a multi wave optical sensor that enables the collection of bio data from individuals . LifeQ licenses LifeQLens which when integrated with the hardware of the wearable provides and easy no intrusive for the collection of relevant bio data.
Striiv is primarily a wearable wrist device manufactures, they build custom for corporate clients and also have standard product lines for the general public