Meanwhile, in rural communities, one doctor is expected to look after 5,000 patients. If that doesn’t feel like a national crisis, perhaps this will: Nigerians spend an average of N5,200 every month on self-medication because they simply cannot trust hospitals to be there when they need them.

However, in the middle of this dysfunction, we’ve selected two HealthTech brands who are torchbearers for a broken system; Helium Health and Reliance HMO. 

Both founded in 2016, both funded by global investors, both leveraging technology. But they serve completely different corners of the healthcare puzzle: one is wiring up hospitals with digital infrastructure, the other is selling ordinary Nigerians something close to peace of mind. So, the question? Which one serves Nigerians better?

The Context: Digital Health as a Lifeline

Globally, digital health has gone beyond being experimental. The market is projected to hit $660 billion by the end of 2025, growing at nearly 25% annually since 2019. Artificial intelligence alone is set to contribute over $102 billion by 2028. 

In Nigeria, the digital health market will reach $645 million this year, driven by smartphone penetration, improved internet, and the government’s goal to digitise 70% of health records by 2025.

On the demand, 70% of Nigerian doctors now use some form of healthtech tool. Patients are booking virtual consultations more, and insurers are relying on apps to reduce paperwork. Against this backdrop, Helium Health and Reliance HMO have risen to prominence.

Leadway vs. AIICO: A Review of their Digital Strategies in a Low-Penetration Insurance Market

Helium Health: Building the Rails

Helium Health is the backbone of African hospitals with an indispensable product: Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Hospital Management Information Systems (HMIS). 

These systems replace dusty paper files with digital dashboards, automate billing, manage drug inventories, and streamline appointments.

Helium Health has raised $42.2 million to date and now operates in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda and Kenya. Its acquisition of Meddy in 2021 and development of HeliumDoc allowed it to integrate AI-powered tools for telemedicine, doctor discovery, automated workflows and patient engagement tools. Through its HeliumCredit product, it also offers financing to hospitals starved of liquidity.

Hospital administrators commend Helium Health for one thing: control. With over 1,000 facilities onboarded and thousands of clinicians using its software, it has become the quiet enabler of efficiency in a chaotic system. The average patient may never hear of it, but without Helium, many hospitals would still be filing patient data in dusty cabinets.

Reliance HMO: Delivering the Ride

Reliance HMO sits on the other end, highly visible, customer-facing, and almost evangelical about access. Unlike Helium, Reliance doesn’t build tools for hospitals. It sells health insurance plans directly to individuals, families, and businesses, plans that truly work.

With $51.1 million raised so far, Reliance has built a provider network of over 2,600 hospitals in Nigeria and 3,800 globally. Its platform gives users telemedicine, cashback incentives for unused plans, and transparent, flexible options like the Red Beryl plan at ₦38,650 annually. For many SMEs and startups, this affordability is the difference between employees being insured or not at all.

Customer feedback usually highlights its quick claims process, responsive support team, and user-friendly mobile app. Reliance has also pushed innovation in chronic care, piloting programmes in diabetes management that reduced fasting blood sugar levels by 12% for participants.

In short, Reliance is the brand patients see, touch, and trust.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Which Serves Nigerians Better?

This is not a straightforward fight. Helium Health is the engine room, Reliance HMO is the frontline face. Helium ensures hospitals can run efficiently; Reliance ensures patients can actually access care. One is building the rails, the other is driving the train.

If you’re a hospital administrator, here’s your answer: Helium Health is the partner you need. If you’re an HR manager trying to insure your staff, Reliance HMO is the obvious choice. In reality, Nigerians need both, because infrastructure without access is meaningless, and access without strong infrastructure collapses quickly.

Nigeria’s health sector will not be saved by government spending alone. It will be saved by fierce experiments like Helium Health and accessible models like Reliance HMO. Each represents a different strategy to solve the same problem: how to give Nigerians dignified, affordable, and reliable healthcare.

So, which serves Nigerians better? The answer depends on where you stand. But if both continue to grow and eventually intersect, the biggest winners won’t be the companies, it will be the patients who, for once, might actually find the system working in their favour.

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It is a reality that across much of Africa, health systems suffer from serious inefficiencies and are widely inaccessible, and this was exasperated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This led to traditional healthcare providers adopting new tech products such as virtual healthcare platforms, telemedicine, drones, big data analytics, wearables, and information management to improve overall health outcomes. 

More than 40 health-tech start-ups on the continent received series A funding in 2020 alone.

Almost a year ago, the Moroccan consulting firm Southbridge A&I and its Canadian partner Salient Advisory published a joint report on the financing challenges of healthcare delivery companies in Africa.

They proposed two continental mechanisms to better direct international funding to African startups and to provide pooled working capital solutions in Africa.

Recently, Southbridge A&I, Salient Advisory and SCIDaR launched the Investing in Innovation (i3) Program, implementing the first recommendation of this report, which will be headed by Startupbootcamp AfriTech (SBC), as the South African Implementation Partner.

Marketing and Storytelling Lead at Startupbootcamp AfriTech, Jocelyn Nyaguse says: “HealthTech innovations are on the rise in Africa, as the continent is served by only 2%2 of the world’s healthcare professionals.

Entrepreneurs are constantly finding solutions that are aligned with Sustainable Development Goals to empower the lives of Africans, and programs such as the i3 are a perfect fit for scaling these innovative solutions that better the lives of ordinary people.

“Earlier in June, statistics from the Global Startup Awards Africa (GSA) Summit revealed that 11% of all the 2021 GSA winners came from HealthTech. Globally, governments are actively seeking and embracing these new opportunities to improve the quality, reach and efficiency of health. Therefore, we are honoured to be selected as industry enablers that will improve the state of South Africa’s healthcare system,” Nyaguse adds.

As the most experienced, African-based and lead multi-corporate-backed tech accelerator that specializes in unlocking and growing Pan-African tech opportunities, SBC enables platforms to provide mentorship and skills training for startups to ensure they can scale. SBC supports startups across Africa, including entrepreneurs in the HealthTech space.

The i3 program is a $7 million pan-African program designed to support 30 companies per year over two years, specialising in HealthTech and the supply chain in Africa. I3 aims to identify early-stage or growth-stage innovators across the continent that can make a tangible impact on public health, whether in terms of availability, accessibility, quality or transparency of health supply chains.

These companies, selected by four leading accelerators across the continent, will be eligible for a systematic grant of $50,000 as well as a market access program through events organized across the continent. 

This ambitious program is sponsored by partners who will be heavily involved throughout the program.

These include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the African Union Development Agency, the World Health Organization AFRO, and two major players in the pharmaceutical industry: the Merck Group and AmerisourceBergen.  

Cheikh Oumar Seydi, Director, Africa, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, commented: “African health innovators have shown increasing capacity to leverage technology to optimize supply chains and advance access to medicines. Such local innovations have the potential to change how supply chains and health systems function – and it is time to support them. We are pleased to be collaborating with strong global and continental partners to jointly strengthen African health systems and accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.” 

Speaking on the launch of the report and i3 program, Remi Adeseun, Director of Salient Advisory, said: “There has been considerable progress over the past year as supply chain innovations work to enhance access to quality medicines. Our report provides investors, donors, and governments with actionable recommendations on engagement strategies to advance companies’ growth and impact. With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and along with our esteemed partners, we are excited to be launching the Investing in Innovation program to connect promising companies to customers who can power their impact and scale.”

South African HealthTech startups are encouraged to leverage opportunities by applying for the i3 program to receive business support that will enable their businesses to scale.

How to apply:

Applications for the first cohort of 30 companies are now open and will close on August 14.

With the program officially launching on September 19, 2022, start-ups working in health product distribution across Africa are invited to apply here.

The post APPLY – Startupbootcamp AfriTech $7m Program for SA HealthTech Startups appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Titled “2023 RoundUp: Investments in African HealthTech”, the report provides analysis on funding trends in African healthtech ecosystems. It provides insights for key stakeholders across governments, investors, donors and global health institutions, and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

While investments in African startups plummeted last year, mirroring global trends, healthtech showed resilience, experiencing only a 2% dip compared to a staggering 39% decline in the broader ecosystem.

The number of deals in African healthtech rose by 17% year-over-year (YoY) to 145, with total funding of $167 million and an average ticket size of $1.1 million.

In total, 114 innovators received funding in 2023, with 23 receiving multiple investments in the year.

The number of deals for women-led companies remained relatively steady (26 in 2022 vs. 33 in 2023), however, the amount of funding saw a dramatic shift as the gender gaps significantly narrowed: women-led companies secured $52 million in funding –31% of all investments in 2023.

This represents a 2000% YoY increase compared to the $2 million (1.4%) they received in 2022.

Online pharmacy solutions attracted the majority of investor capital, capturing 38% ($63 million) of all funding raised, driven by Series B funding rounds by Kenya’s Kasha ($21 million) and MyDAWA ($20 million), alongside Egypt’s Yodawy ($16 million).

Electronic medical records solutions were the second-best funded category, driven by Helium Health’s $30 million Series B funding round.

Equity investments accounted for 91% of total funding with an average deal size of $3.2 million. This significantly outpaced grants, which only contributed 7% of capital with an average ticket size of $168,000. However, grants continue to play a crucial role in enabling access to early-stage funding for innovators to test and validate their business models. Debt funding remains rare as only one debt-based investment was tracked in 2023.

While still rare, merger and acquisition activity doubled in the past year with four key transactions. The prospect of future funding also appears strong as, despite broader economic headwinds which suggest a slowdown in funding for technology startups, over $600 million in new funding was announced by investors with an interest in African health systems.

Speaking on the launch of the report, Yomi Kazeem, Engagement Manager at Salient Advisory, commented:

“The resilience of African healthtech innovations shines through in the findings of this report. Amid difficult headwinds, these innovations continue to demonstrate commercially viable models that have the potential to improve access to healthcare and deliver impact at scale. The increased funding for women founders is a high point and, in coming years, investors must prioritise sustaining strategies that ensure equitable funding across founders.

Dr. Analía Porrás, Deputy Director, Global Health Agencies and Funds, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, also commented:

“African healthtech has proven resilient over the past year, with innovators receiving investments to test, validate and scale solutions that have the potential to transform health systems across the continent. We are pleased to be playing a role by providing innovators with risk-tolerant capital through the Investing in Innovation program and hope to see the current resilience translate into increased confidence and funding from investors and donors.”

The full market intelligence report is available here.

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