Helium Health Co-Founder Reacts As Lagos-Based Startup Secures $10m In 'Most Challenging Era'

The Co-Founder of Helium Health, Adegoke Olubusi, has reacted to the $10 million the Lagos-based Startup secured last week. Helium Health had secured the fund at a period PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said tech startups in Nigeria will find it difficult to secure investment.

Speaking on the $10 million investment secured from a funding round, Olubusi said the fund can help the healthcare firm to grow in a million ways. According to him, the fund will accelerate the growth of Helium Health in Nigeria and Ghana. It will also enable the startup expand into new market across African countries.

“This new round means that we have more firepower to be able to expand the reach of our product way beyond Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia where we are now. When we think about the extent of the challenges and problems that we can solve in the healthcare sector in Africa, there could be a million ways in which this can help us grow.”

Investors who participated in the funding round

The electronic medical records providers received funding from a Dubai-based firm, Global Ventures and Asia Africa Investment & Consulting (AAIC), which led the investment round. China's Tencent also took part in the funding round. The funding round proves that deals could still be sealed by Nigerian tech startups despite the disruption of COVID-19.

Allnews had reported that PwC stated in its report that accessing capital would be difficult at this period for tech companies, although, PwC identified tech startups operating in the payment space. The report, however, is not far from the truth as COVID-19 had disrupted a lot of business activities, causing firms to reschedule meetings from physical to virtual. COVID-19 is expected to delay deals or slow the progress of investment talks, making it the most challenging period to raise fund.

Speaking on the essence of Helium Health, the General Partner and Founder of Global Ventures, Noor Sweid, said “ We are excited to partner with Helium Health as the need for healthcare data and inclusion in emerging markets is exacerbated by the pandemic. Helium Health has the opportunity to solve large problems through its software and help accelerate healthcare accessibility.” The fund is also expected to be disbursed to improve customer base.

What you need to know about Helium Health

By providing an all-in-one electronic medical record for hospitals and healthcare institutions across Africa, Helium Health intends to curb the inefficiencies of paper-based health record keeping. Helium Health aims to smooth record-keeping by collating hospital management and insurance, medical billing, digital medical record-keeping on a single digital platform.

Helium Health had raised $2 million in grants and funding from Y-Combinator, World Bank, Etisalat, Western Tech, GreenHouse Capital, Cantos Ventures, A-Level Capital, angel investors since it launched its MVP in 2016. With over 70 hospitals, including the likes of Paelon, St Francis, Medison, CASS on Helium Health's clientele, about 5,000 doctors are utilising the platform.