Helium Health, an African startup that offers software-as-a-service tools, financing, and insights for healthcare providers and public health organizations, has successfully raised $30 million in Series B funding. This funding comes three years after the company secured a $10 million Series A round and 18 months following a unique Africa-GCC deal involving Meddy, a UAE-based healthcare provider-patient interaction platform.
The Series B round saw participation from new investors, including notable figures such as Anne Wojcicki, the co-founder and CEO of 23andMe, as well as venture capital firms like Capria Ventures, Angaza Capital, and Flatworld Partners. Additionally, existing investors like Global Ventures, Tencent, Ohara Pharmaceuticals, LCY Group, WTI, and AAIC also participated in this round.
The primary intendment of this investment is to drive growth in Helium Health’s software tools, financing solutions, and verticals in the healthcare sector. A particular focus will be placed on HeliumCredit, the fintech offering of the startup. Helium Health plans to expand the reach of HeliumCredit and increase its lending portfolio to 1,000 healthcare facilities by 2024, in partnership with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). This move aims to address the significant healthcare financing deficit in Africa, where many healthcare facilities struggle to access external funding sources.
Reasons for the Investment
Several major reasons contributed to the investors’ decision to invest in Helium Health. Firstly, the African healthcare sector faces a severe financing deficit of $66 billion annually, with a decline in healthcare funding disbursed by African governments over the past 15 years. This funding gap, coupled with the lack of access to external sources of funding for private health facilities, creates a pressing need for healthcare financing solutions.
Helium Health recognized this challenge and developed HeliumCredit, a digital finance product that leverages its end-to-end software solutions to provide healthcare facilities with a digital financing solution. By offering financing based on billing and operational insights obtained from their software, along with data from credit bureaus and traditional systems, Helium Health addresses the creditworthiness assessment needs of healthcare facilities, enabling them to access the capital they require.
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Furthermore, Helium Health’s expansion of its software tools, such as HeliumOS, which digitizes electronic medical records (EMR) and hospital management solutions, has gained significant traction. The demand for digital solutions in the healthcare sector is increasing, as facilities recognize the benefits of digitization in accessing financing opportunities and improving overall operational efficiency.
A Look at Helium Health
Helium Health was founded in Lagos, Africa, and has quickly become a leading startup in the healthcare technology industry. The company’s co-founders are Adegoke Olubusi, Dimeji Sofowora, and Tito Ovia. Helium Health primarily operates in Africa, with its primary markets being Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Liberia, Kenya, and Uganda. It has also expanded its reach to Qatar and the UAE in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
The startup focuses on providing software-as-a-service tools, financing solutions, and insights for healthcare providers and public health organizations. Its flagship products include HeliumOS, which digitizes electronic medical records and hospital management solutions, and HeliumCredit, a digital finance product that offers financing to healthcare facilities based on their creditworthiness.
With over 10,000 health workers across 1,000 facilities using their platform, Helium Health has become the widest-reaching electronic medical records (EMR) platform in West Africa. The company aims to bridge the gap between fragmented public health programs by integrating health information systems and collaborating with global health communities.
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Helium Health has also received grant funding from renowned organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and MSD for Mothers, enabling the execution of projects aligned with their maternal health program strategies. Additionally, the company has attracted equity financing from AXA IM Alts, a subsidiary of AXA Group, a prominent global insurance group. AXA IM Alts, known for its impact strategies aimed at improving global financial inclusion and connectivity, recognized the value of Helium Health’s healthcare financing product and its strategic alignment with AXA’s position as a leading health insurance provider in the markets where Helium Health operates. This investment reaffirms the company’s commitment to providing digital solutions that enhance the quality and efficacy of healthcare services in resource-constrained environments, while also equipping health sector enterprises with affordable financial services.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard