The archive · Health & Care · Strategic decision · 2016–2023
Helium Health's rare Africa-Gulf bet: buying Meddy to carry its EMRs into the GCC
Lagos-based Helium Health, backed by Dubai's Global Ventures, bought Qatar/UAE booking platform Meddy in 2021 to carry its hospital software into the Gulf.
Helium Health · Meddy
What the business is
A Lagos-based healthtech company selling electronic medical records, hospital management, billing, payments and lending software to healthcare providers across Africa, and, via its Meddy acquisition, doctor booking and telemedicine in the UAE and Qatar.
Starting capital：US$10M Series A (May 2020) co-led by Dubai's Global Ventures; US$30M Series B (June 2023) led by AXA IM Alts.
How it started
Founded in 2016 in Lagos by Adegoke Olubusi, Dimeji Sofowora and Tito Ovia on the observation that African healthcare runs mostly on paper. Y Combinator took Helium into its spring 2017 batch. In May 2020 it raised a US$10M Series A co-led by Dubai-based Global Ventures and Africa Healthcare Masterfund, with Tencent participating, to expand across North and East Africa.
What happened
By late 2021 Helium Health had digitized more than 500 healthcare facilities across Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Liberia, Kenya and Uganda, serving 7,000+ medical professionals and 300,000+ patients monthly. In November 2021 it acquired Meddy, a Qatar-headquartered, UAE-based doctor-booking platform, in what TechCrunch called a rare Africa-GCC deal; Meddy brought 150+ private clients, 200,000+ bookings and about US$130M in provider billings. In June 2023 Helium raised US$30M led by AXA IM Alts with Anne Wojcicki, while HeliumCredit grew from US$250K to US$3.5M+ across 200+ Nigerian facilities.
How it ended up
Still live and scaling: as of June 2023 Helium Health operated in eight countries including the UAE and Qatar, planned a GCC rollout of its core HeliumOS platform, and aimed to lend to 1,000 healthcare facilities by 2024 with U.S. DFC backing.
Background
Helium Health was founded in Lagos in 2016 by Adegoke Olubusi, Dimeji Sofowora and Tito Ovia on the bet that African healthcare, most of it still on paper, would digitize if given simple software. After Y Combinator's spring 2017 batch, it raised a US$10M Series A in May 2020 co-led by Dubai's Global Ventures and Africa Healthcare Masterfund, with Tencent participating, to expand from West Africa into North and East Africa.
The core product HeliumOS digitized electronic medical records and hospital management; HeliumPay handled billing and HeliumCredit lent to facilities that banks could not underwrite. By late 2021 Helium had signed 500+ facilities across Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Liberia, Kenya and Uganda, with 7,000+ medical professionals serving 300,000+ patients monthly.
In November 2021 Helium bought Meddy, a Qatar-headquartered, UAE-based doctor-booking platform, in what TechCrunch called a rare Africa-GCC tech deal. Meddy brought 150+ private clients, 200,000+ appointments and roughly US$130M in provider billings, plus a leadership team to run Helium's GCC strategy. Helium then merged Meddy's telemedicine into HeliumDoc.
In June 2023 Helium raised a US$30M Series B led by AXA IM Alts, with 23andMe's Anne Wojcicki, Capria, Angaza and Flatworld joining; Global Ventures and Tencent followed on. The company reported 10,000+ health workers across 1,000+ facilities caring for 1M+ patients, aimed HeliumOS at GCC rollout, and targeted 1,000 lending facilities by 2024 with U.S. DFC backing.
What has to be true
- Dubai's Global Ventures co-led the Series A and took a board seat — Gulf capital arrived before Gulf operations, funding the later GCC push.
- Buying Meddy (150+ UAE/Qatar clients, 200,000+ bookings) gave Helium instant Gulf distribution instead of years of local building.
- The full-stack bundle — EMR, management, billing, lending, telemedicine — was rare in the GCC, where rivals sold narrow vertical products.
- Africa's US$66B annual healthcare financing gap made HeliumCredit the revenue engine that justified expanding the software footprint.
What can be applied
To cross a gap most investors avoid, buy local distribution instead of building it: Meddy gave Helium a Gulf client base and team in months — a rare regional deal became a fast entry point.
Aftermath
As of 5 June 2023, Helium Health was live in Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Liberia, Kenya and Uganda plus the UAE and Qatar, with HeliumDoc in Nigeria and East Africa next, HeliumOS planned for the GCC, and HeliumCredit targeting 1,000 healthcare facilities by 2024 with U.S. DFC backing. The 150-person team spanned 10 countries; no shutdown or later downturn had been reported as of that date.
Sources
- Nigeria's Helium Health acquires Qatar's Meddy in rare Africa-GCC deal
- Helium Health gets $30M, backed by AXA IM Alts and 23andMe's Anne Wojcicki
- Nigeria-based Helium Health acquires Qatar's Meddy
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