Zanele Matome, the CEO and founder of digital health tech start-up Welo Health, speaking during an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. Zanele Matome, the CEO and founder of Welo Health, is making her mark on the global stage as one of the few African tech entrepreneurs invited to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Born and raised in Rustenburg in South Africa’s North West province, Matome is using her debut appearance at WEF to seek strategic investors who can help make her digital health startup a household name globally.
Matome is the CEO and co-founder of Welo Health, a South Africa–based digital health tech startup that helps employers better manage the health of their workforce. Welo Health connects corporates, health insurers, and healthcare professionals through a single, flexible ecosystem designed to improve health outcomes while boosting productivity. Built as an infrastructure platform, Welo Health enables companies to reduce absenteeism, manage chronic diseases, and ultimately improve productivity by making healthcare more accessible and data-driven.
“So we like your healthcare platform partner for you to better service your employees and to make sure that you have less absenteeism caused by chronic health care diseases and other diseases,” Matome says. Her presence at Davos is no accident. Matome was selected through the Davos Innovation Week programme, which handpicked just 22 startups from around the world to participate in keynote sessions and investor pitches.
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Only two African startups made the cut — and Welo Health was one of them. “This is my first time at WEF, and it’s incredibly exciting,” Matome says. “Being invited here means African innovation is being recognised at the highest level.” Raised in Rustenburg in South Africa’s North West province, Matome credits her entrepreneurial resilience to growing up in an environment where resources were limited and perseverance was essential.
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