Nigerian e-health startup Reliance Health has announced the completion of a US$40 million Series B funding round to help it expand in emerging markets around the world and add to its product suite.
Founded by Femi Kuti, Opeyemi Olumekun, and Matthew Mayaki in 2015 as a telemedicine-focused startup named Kangpe, Reliance Health later expanded into a single-fee healthcare provider to better address the complex, evolving needs of patients.
Using an integrated approach that includes affordable health insurance, telemedicine, and a combination of partner and proprietary healthcare facilities, Reliance has so far impacted over 200,000 lives and 600 companies.
Its US$40 million Series B, a leading global growth equity investor making its first technology investment in Africa, with participation from Partech, Picus Capital, Tencent Exploration, Asia Africa Investment and Consulting (AAIC), P1 Ventures, Laerdal Million Lives Fund, M3, Inc, and Arvantis Social Foundation. It takes the startup’s total secured funding to US$48 million.
The investment will accelerate Reliance Health’s efforts in expanding its platform in emerging markets around the world while adding new products that complement existing proprietary technology, facilities, and partnerships. Reliance will also leverage the funds to hire additional top talent.
“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,” said Femi Kuti, Reliance Health CEO and co-founder.
“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,” said Chris Caulkin, head of EMEA technology and managing director at General Atlantic.
“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.”
