Helium Health, the African healthtech startup known for its software-as-a-service tools, financing solutions, and insights for healthcare providers and public health organizations, has successfully raised $30 million in its Series B funding round. This announcement comes three years after the Lagos-based company secured $10 million in its Series A funding and 18 months following a groundbreaking deal involving UAE-based healthcare provider-patient interaction platform Meddy.
Adegoke Olubusi, the co-founder and CEO of Helium Health, provided an update on the acquisition in an interview with TechCrunch. He revealed that the product called HeliumDoc, which combines Meddy's telemedicine capabilities with Helium Health's revenue cycle management service, is currently being utilized in Nigeria, with plans for expansion into East Africa. Additionally, Helium Health's core product, HeliumOS, which digitizes electronic medical records (EMR) and offers hospital management solutions across Africa, is expected to be rolled out in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region.
While the new funding will undoubtedly drive growth in these areas, the spotlight is likely to shine on HeliumCredit, the fintech offering of Helium Health. The startup plans to concentrate more capital on this aspect as it aims to expand its reach and increase its lending portfolio to 1,000 healthcare facilities by 2024, in collaboration with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), as stated in a press release.
Helium Health initially began by digitizing healthcare operations and EMR records for healthcare providers, providing them with valuable data and analytics. However, the company soon realized that financing was a critical need facing its customers, leading to the creation of HeliumCredit. The healthcare sector in Africa suffers from a significant financing deficit of $66 billion per year, with healthcare funding disbursed by African governments declining by 8% over the past 15 years. In Nigeria, 57% of private health facilities never have access to external sources of funding, despite being the first point of call for many Nigerians.
This lack of capital has wide-ranging implications, including the shortage of health workers on the continent. Africa has one of the lowest health worker-to-patient ratios globally, with 31 out of its 54 countries having fewer than ten doctors per 1,000 patients. This scarcity leads to average wait times of around two hours for medical attention.
Olubusi acknowledged the deep challenges faced by healthcare facilities, stating, "There are many healthcare facilities that make money and are profitable but cannot access financing in Nigeria and most Sub-Saharan African countries because banks don't have insights into how these hospitals operate." HeliumCredit leverages Helium Health's end-to-end software product, using billing and operational insights obtained from HeliumOS to assess the creditworthiness of its customers, thereby providing a digital financing solution with quick response times.
Since its Series A investment, Helium Health has grown its credit from $250,000 to over $3.5 million across 200+ healthcare facilities in Nigeria. These facilities, including hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and diagnostic centers, have used the loans to purchase medical equipment and medications in bulk, expand their locations, and increase their revenue.
According to Olubusi, embedded credit enables software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses like Helium Health to scale faster in emerging markets. The company has noticed healthcare facilities trying to digitize their operations to gain better access to financing. As these facilities access long-term loans from HeliumCredit, they are provided with financial training and tools, creating a stronger incentive for them to digitize their operations.
Helium Health, backed by Y Combinator (YC), prides itself on being the widest-reaching electronic medical records (EMR) platform in West Africa. Its platform
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