Meet Nabuuma Shamim Kaliisa, a 24-year-old Cancer Survivor Who Considers Herself a Social Entrepreneur and Innovator.
This is Me
I am determined to not only exist but to thrive and to help others thrive. My name is Nabuuma Shamim Kaliisa, I am a 24-year-old cancer survivor! While I have medical training/education, I consider myself more as a social entrepreneur and an innovator in the field of medicine.
My Business Idea was Born Out of a Need.
Growing up in a poor family in rural Uganda meant that we could not afford private medical care. We depended on public medical services which were not only ineffective but also required us to travel over 70 kilometers from our home to access medical care. The services were very poor and the facility was only equipped to handle a few simple cases.
My first encounter with cancer came as early as age 13 when my mother took ill and eventually passed away from cervical cancer. Little did I know that many years down the line, I would also be diagnosed with cancer.
These personal experiences inspired me to seek ways to extend medical services to those who need them but are not able to afford or access them.
About Chil Artificial Intelligence
We were formerly called Community Dental and Reproductive Health centre operating in Kampala, Uganda. Now with technology as our backbone, we offer cancer diagnosis systems through our cervical and breast cancer testing Kits and support with cancer treatments using our proprietary system that offers E-Oncology services like consultation, test results interpretation through our mobile app called Keti AI App
My Love for the Tony Elumelu Foundation
I tell whoever cares to listen that TEF is a father to my company!
In 2016, I had used my little savings from my student to start a small mobile clinic but it was so meager, and I had no one else to support that dream. I tried to secure funding from several sources but they all wanted an investible company – one with a certain minimum revenue generated already. I didn’t have any of those and so I met with a brick wall each time. Then I heard about the Tony Elumelu Foundation while watching TV one day. I applied and was so excited when TEF decided to take a chance on me. With the seed capital I received, I was able to transform the small clinic I had to a company which today serves more than 155000 women
It Has Been Anything but Easy
Being a woman in a male-dominated industry has been very challenging. When I expanded my business to one that uses Artificial Intelligence, I entered a market dominated by men and when they hear that a young woman, an African at that is making the strides that we are making, it seems all made up to them.
As with most start-ups, access to capital has been a challenge. It was particularly difficult when we only had offices in Uganda as the risk profile of the business combined with the political history of my home country was a red flag for many investors. Now that we have opened offices in other countries, we have investors showing keen interest.
I also faced a lot of opposition and even blackmail from doctors who saw our Artificial intelligence Powered Mobile Application as a threat instead of an ally.
Milestones Achieved
My biggest joy has been watching our customer base grow from 130 in Kampala to 150,000 globally. These women who choose to use our automated medical services rather than physical oncologists are my greatest inspiration.
Because we have embraced technology as an enabler – we changed from an offline company offering manual services to a fully digital one offering online services powered by Artificial intelligence, we now have 21 employees who serve over 150,000 women across 25 countries.
Before TEF, we could only boast of annual revenues as low as $2500 but now we are looking at over $300,000 in annual revenue.
We have also had the support of several organisations like GIZ, CCHub, UNDP and Google as well as recognition/awards from several other parties – Tedeka young entrepreneur award 2018, AWIEF Social Impact award 2018 and Ruforum young entrepreneur award 2018 amongst others.
What is Next for Us
As a business, we are looking at growing beyond borders. we are targeting new territories like Asia and Latin America.
We are also developing a new product – The saving smart card for Chronic Disease and this is to work Globally after being Piloted in East Africa and some parts of southern Africa) by the end of 2023.
My Personal Mantra
In my journey as an entrepreneur, my measure of success is first the happiness and satisfaction of my customers before financial profits.
Contact details for interested partners.
The fight against cancer is bigger than what we alone can handle so we are open to more and more partners. We would like others to join in the fight against cancer, specifically the ones that plague our women.
Email – nabuuma@cdarh.org
Number: +256758403065
Website: www.cdarh.org
