Āki Innovations lands $100k ACC fund investment

Āki Innovations helps with rehabilitation through ACC, rongoā Māori, Tu Whati Ora and through kaitiakitanga by supporting kaimahi Māori. Photo / 123RF

By Stefan Dimitrof of Whakaata Māori

Āki Innovations is developing an assessment tool for tāne Māori suffering from traumatic brain injuries and has been given a generous helping hand from the ACC Innovation Fund to the tune of $100,000.

Āki is a Māori kaupapa-driven company based in Waikato whose aim is to help Māori whānau by interrupting intergenerational challenges, with the goal of helping future generations of Māori.

ACC statistics show Māori concussion and brain injury claims number more than 20,000 cases from 2016 to 2021 and 60 per cent of those claims are from tāne Māori.

Āki Innovations co-directors Marcia Ranginui Charlton and Marlana Maru said Āki Innovations helps with rehabilitation through ACC, rongoā Māori, Tu Whatu Ora and kaitiakitanga by supporting kaimahi Māori.

Maru said the app aims to give Māori better access to systems and treatments and "help them navigate through systems that are really difficult".

Charlton said brain injuries were hidden accidents but they occurred every 15 minutes in Aotearoa.

"It's even more prevalent than cancer."

They said Māori were more likely to be critically injured, less likely to seek medical attention, and Māori rehabilitation progress outcomes were poor.

"So we are driven to make a difference there, and try to deal with the inequities of it," Charlton said.

She said the money from ACC was going to be a big help in helping them provide evidence that the project they were proposing for whānau did work for whānau, "allowing us to test things out".

Maru said the investment from ACC would allow them to look outside the box and look for new ways to care for Māori.