As the world grapples with pressing public health challenges, Koniku, a pioneering biotech company, remains a beacon of hope. Founded by Oshiorenoya Agabi in 2017, Koniku’s ultimate goal is to make healthcare accessible to all, empowering people to take charge of their well-being. With its innovative approach and cutting-edge technology, Koniku is transforming the healthcare industry and improving the lives of millions of people around the world. By creating a marketplace that enables collaboration between healthcare professionals and consumers, Koniku is on the brink of changing how we think about healthcare. A world where individuals have the power to manage their health, Koniku is leading the charge towards a healthier and more equitable future.
Founder of Koniku, Oshiorenoya Agabi, is a Nigerian-born scientist who runs the company’s team of engineers in Silicon Valley. The company’s technology combines traditional computer cells with living biological neurons to give computers power to detect odours.
He has more than 15 years’ experience working on neuroelectronic interfaces in the industry and academia. He was a robotics engineer straight out of college (Theoretical Physics) doing statistical learning from 2002 – 2005. He built and programmed pick & place robots in Zurich, CH.
He led cross-disciplinary industry/academia team to develop an in vitro reflex arc for modeling implantable neural chips at the ETH in Zürich. He reported to the CEO & board of directors. That company was acquired.
As a visiting scholar at MRC (London Institute of Medical Sciences, Hammersmith) and during his Ph.D. studies at the Imperial College in London, he built and customized two-photon microscopes for studying synaptic transmission in the mouse visual cortex.
Oshiorenoya and his team view real biological neurons as a material to be engineered – just like silicon. “We have engineered silicon for the last 60 years and exhausted that value. Building with biology, the most advanced technology known to man, is the next step,” he says.
Oshiorenoya is a theoretical physicist by training and earned a PhD in Computational Neuroscience and Bioengineering at the Imperial College in London. HealthCap Africa, unwavering in its commitment, actively invests in healthtech startups across Africa that share a common objective of enhancing healthcare on the continent.