I help teams turn a clinical need into a product people will use, from MVP to first users.
I am a health-tech founder and mentor based in Nairobi. I trained in telecommunications engineering at Politecnico di Torino. I am an alumnus of the East Africa Biodesign fellowship with Stanford University, and I work on EsidAI, a clinical decision tool for safe delivery. I am co-founder and CTO of Snark Health. I also built HAKI, a platform that connects people with a lawyer.
Accelerators and fellowships hire me to walk founders from idea to MVP to first users. I have done that with Futurize and the African Impact Initiative, and I have led a product-growth session for HealthTech Hub Africa.
Connect With MeEdwin Openda is a Nairobi-based health-tech mentor, an East Africa Biodesign fellow alumnus from the program with Stanford University, and co-founder of Snark Health. He works on EsidAI. Accelerators hire him to walk founder cohorts from idea to MVP to first users.
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For an accelerator, hub, or fellowship running health and technology founders.
Recent seats: Futurize, the African Impact Initiative, and a product-growth session for HealthTech Hub Africa.
Send a program briefFor a health or medtech founder, or a university spinout, with an idea or a prototype and no clear clinical user.
Drawn from building Snark Health and from East Africa Biodesign work on EsidAI.
For a founder who is not ready to hire a full-time CTO, or a clinic putting a service online.
Drawn from technical leadership at Snark Health and at HAKI.
Tell me who you are and what the cohort or product needs. This opens an email to me@edwinopenda.com. It does not subscribe you to anything.
Edwin Openda is a Nairobi-based health-tech mentor, an East Africa Biodesign fellow alumnus from the program with Stanford University, and co-founder of Snark Health. He works on EsidAI, a clinical decision tool for safe delivery. Accelerators and fellowships hire him to walk founder cohorts from idea to MVP to first users.
Send a program brief with the cohort dates, the number of teams, and whether you need office hours, an expert session, or both. He has mentored founders with Futurize and the African Impact Initiative, and led a product-growth session for HealthTech Hub Africa.
A clinical product sprint is a fixed 2 to 4 week engagement for a health or medtech founder, or a university spinout. It ends with the clinical need, the workflow, and a tight scope for what to build next.
Fractional technical leadership is a build plan for a founder who is not ready to hire a full-time CTO, or a clinic putting a service online. It covers what to build, what to buy, how data and payments should work, and who to hire. It can start as a short diagnostic and continue as a monthly advisory seat.
Edwin Openda is based in Nairobi, Kenya. He works with teams in East Africa, Europe, and remotely. He trained at Politecnico di Torino and has worked with health and technology programs in Kenya, the Bay Area, and India.
Mentoring is a passion that allows me to give back to the entrepreneurial community. I believe in empowering the next generation of innovators through knowledge sharing and guided experience.
My mentoring approach is built on:
I have mentored entrepreneurs in both emerging markets and established economies. The engagement programs hire is cohort mentoring: office hours from idea to first users, plus an expert session when the cohort needs one.
Hire me for a cohortTravel is more than a hobby—it's a source of inspiration and perspective that enriches my professional outlook. Experiencing diverse cultures and business environments has provided invaluable insights that inform my approach to global business challenges.
My travels have taken me across continents, exposing me to various healthcare systems, technological implementations, and business practices. These experiences have shaped my understanding of how solutions must be adapted to different cultural and economic contexts.
Words have power, and I believe in the transformative impact of timely wisdom. Here are some inspirational quotes that have guided my journey:
"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."
"The best way to predict the future is to create it."
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."
"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today."
"The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity."
Programs and founders can send a short brief. I reply when the work is cohort mentoring, a clinical product sprint, or a fractional technical lead.