In 2018, his brother passed away due to uncontrolled hypertension. Since then, he has been using his technical skills to combat heart disease and reduce health inequities.
Peter Njongwe (photo), a South African software engineer, product manager, and entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of Oben Health, a startup focused on improving healthcare access for people of color in the United States. Founded in 2020, Oben Health, previously known as Lapis Health, aims to enhance the quality of care, improve the quality of life, and reduce sudden deaths related to heart disease in communities of color. The startup has developed an AI-based platform that delivers healthcare services in barbershops and beauty salons.
The Oben Health platform seamlessly integrates clinical screenings, social determinants of health (SDOH), health coaching, and treatments. It fosters team-based care, coordination, and population health management through interoperability and data analytics. The inspiration to start this company came after the loss of Njongwe's brother in 2018. "My brother passed away from uncontrolled hypertension at age 36. He went to bed and never woke up, leaving a wife and two children behind. If my brother had gotten screened for hypertension, I think he would still be alive" Njongwe explains on the reasons behind the platform.
Njongwe holds a degree in computer information systems and entrepreneurship, earned in 2013 from Mount Royal University in Canada. He began his professional career the same year at Hitachi Solutions Canada, an enterprise application consulting firm, as an IT consultant. In 2014, he became a software developer at Evans 2 Design, now E2 + Associates, a company specializing in housing construction and land development. In 2015, he was hired by Shopify as a product manager. From 2019 to 2021, he served as an executive-in-residence at Connection Silicon Valley, an organization that helps Canadian companies collaborate, innovate, and establish partnerships within the Silicon Valley tech ecosystem.
Melchior Koba
