Nigerian digital healthcare provider Reliance Health raises $40m

Reliance Health, a Nigerian digital healthcare provider, has raised $40 million in a Series B funding round led by growth equity investor General Atlantic.

The funding round also saw the participation from Partech, Tencent Exploration, Picus Capital, Asia Africa Investment and Consulting (AAIC), Laerdal Million Lives Fund, M3, Inc., P1 Ventures, and Arvantis Social Foundation.

So far, Reliance Health has raised a total of $48 million, which includes the $6 million it had secured in a Series A funding round in early 2020. The company was founded in 2015 by Femi Kuti, Opeyemi Olumekun, and Matthew Mayak.

Chris Caulkin — General Atlantic Managing Director and Head of EMEA Technology said: “General Atlantic is thrilled to announce our first technology investment in Africa in Reliance Health, backing a team focused on improving healthcare quality for millions of patients in Nigeria and abroad.

“We have been consistently impressed by Femi and Ope, who exemplify the entrepreneurialism and innovation we see across the African continent. We look forward to sharing our experience as a leading global growth equity investor in support of Reliance Health’s exciting and important mission.”

Reliance Health started operations in Nigeria as a telemedicine-focused startup called Kangpe. Subsequently, it grew into a single-fee healthcare provider for better addressing the complex, evolving requirements of patients.

The Series B investment is expected to expedite the efforts of the Nigerian digital healthcare provider in taking its platform to emerging markets across the globe. It will also help the company add new products that complement its existing technology, partnerships, and facilities apart from recruiting additional talent.

Femi Kuti — Reliance Health CEO and Co-Founder said: “Healthcare in emerging markets is often overlooked by private initiatives because it’s an extremely complex challenge to solve. At Reliance Health, by leveraging new innovations to break the constraints of legacy solutions, we believe there is an opportunity to solve some of these tough problems and even for aspects of healthcare in emerging markets to leapfrog to other parts of the world.

“We are excited to work with our investors towards bringing affordability and accessibility in healthcare to underserved markets, ultimately saving lives around the world.”