Elaine Jean Tech 02.07.2022 14:Feb PM EST

Nigeria’s Healthtech Start-Up: Reliance Health Raises $40 Million in Funding

Reliance Health, a health tech startup company, has raised $40 million in Series B funding. It also raised $6 million in its first Series A funding.

With this, Reliance Health has successfully closed the largest funding round in the African HealthTech industry to date, thanks to the funding provided by this round.

Technology has crippled every industry during this pandemic, hoping it would alleviate daily tasks and workloads.

People have now witnessed firsthand how technology can significantly impact their lives positively and negatively. Investment has also made its way down to Africa, with large sums of money being invested in early-stage companies.

Reliance Health

In addition to business-to-business operations, Reliance Health company also has a business-to-customer operation model.

Reliance Health has combined these two critical concepts through subscriptions to provide users with access to an integrated suite of healthcare products.

In Nigeria, Reliance Health directly provides some of that healthcare, primarily through telemedicine and a drug delivery system, as well as through the operation of two clinics in Lagos, Nigeria.

In addition to that, third-party service providers such as hospitals, diagnostic centers, and pharmaceutical centers, altogether, collaborate to make their health care systems possible.

According to Techcrunch, the company's chief executive, Kuti stated that the mission of Reliance Health is simple. She emphasized that despite the definition of being simple, it is also rather challenging than that.

As a result, their company's goal is to attempt to use technology to make high-quality health care more accessible and affordable in developing countries.

Accessibility and affordability are extremely critical issues implied in Kuti's statement. Health care is often taken for granted in Nigeria and other developing countries.

Unfortunately, since there are no metrics in place to guarantee the optimality of healthcare when it is used, people are more likely to accept whatever healthcare is offered.

Series A Funding

In January 2020, the Series A funding round raised $6 million for Reliance Health. The first funding round was led by Partech with the participation of Y Combinator, LoftyInc Capital, Ventures Platform, Ventures Platform, Golden Palm Investments, and Picus Capital.

Tidjane Dème, General Partner at Partech, stated that they were the first to invest in Reliance Health's Series A because they saw a team that had a clear vision and executed it flawlessly.

Having delivered a successful product to large corporations and micro-businesses, they have demonstrated their ability to expand access to healthcare for underserved segments of the population.

He also added that it makes the entire Partech team feel proud and excited to see top global investors join the company as it expands its operations in Nigeria and other emerging markets.

Series B Funding: Led by General Atlantic

According to Businesswire, with a focus on developing markets, General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity investor. General Atlantic's first technology investment in Africa comes from the newly formed partnership.

P1 Ventures, M3, Inc., Partech, Arvanitis Social Foundation, Laerdal Million Lives Fund, Picus Capital, Tencent Exploration, and AAIC (Asia Africa Investment and Consulting) are among the venture capitalists that participated in the $40 million funding for Reliance Health.

Managing Director of General Atlantic, Chris Caulkin, expressed his delight at announcing his company's first technology investment in Africa in Reliance Health.

Caulkin stated that his company is excited to support a team dedicated to improving healthcare quality for millions of patients in Nigeria and around the world.

He added that the opportunity to share their expertise as a leading global growth equity investor supports Reliance Health's exciting and important mission is one they look forward to.