Participated · Series B · Jun 2023

Helium Health provides a core EMR and hospital-management product (HeliumOS), a telemedicine/revenue-cycle product (HeliumDoc) and an embedded finance product (HeliumCredit) that leverages operational data to underwrite loans. The company says HeliumOS is used across more than 1,000 facilities by over 10,000 health workers to care for more than 1 million patients, and the team of about 150 operates in eight countries. HeliumCredit, launched in 2020, has grown lending from $250,000 to over $3.5 million across 200+ facilities and is used to finance equipment, inventory and expansions. Helium Health has received grant funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and MSD for Mothers to support maternal health projects. The startup plans to roll out HeliumOS in GCC markets and expand HeliumDoc in East Africa while concentrating new capital on expanding HeliumCredit. Helium Health provides a suite of products that digitize data, formalize monetization and enable telemedicine for hospitals and health systems in Nigeria, Liberia and Ghana. Its offerings include administrative tools, electronic medical records, financial management, digital payment and credit products for hospitals and insurers, plus developer resources. The company recently launched the MyHelium Patient app to facilitate appointments and information sharing and rapidly rolled out a telemedicine platform that onboarded roughly 360 hospitals in three weeks and generated thousands of online visits. Helium generates revenues by charging percentages and fees on its products, services and transactions; the CEO says the startup is profitable and generates revenues in the millions of dollars. Founded in 2016 and based in Lagos, the team says it has declined acquisition offers and aims to scale independently. It plans to use new funding to hire and expand into North and East Africa, including Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Morocco. Helium Health builds holistic hospital management software to digitize hospital operations and patient records, reduce wait times, and improve patient confidence. The company uses a customized subscription model where hospitals buy credits (one credit = one patient for 365 days) and often subsidizes hardware purchases for clients. Since piloting in 2016 it has deployed its system across West Africa, with client counts reported above 60–70 hospitals and teams in multiple cities and countries. The startup has grown its headcount to over 60 employees and has invested funding into product development, sales/marketing, and hiring. Its commercial traction includes deals with state governments (Akwa Ibom) and deployments across Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Abuja and Liberia. Financially, the company raised early prize funding and accelerator capital and has raised in excess of $2 million within its first two years of operations.

Participated · Convertible Note · Jan 2021

Founded in 2018, San Diego-based BlueNalu produces premium seafood directly from fish cells, eliminating the need to harvest wild fish. Its first commercial product is cell-cultivated bluefin tuna toro, which the company aims to launch through premium food-service partners once regulatory approvals are secured. The firm collaborates closely with regulators, chefs, distributors and strategic partners worldwide to build a scalable, responsible cultivated-seafood supply chain. Proceeds from the latest financing will fund U.S. and international regulatory engagement, initial commercial-launch activities and manufacturing-process optimization. BlueNalu also plans to deepen strategic partnerships across the value chain to support disciplined commercialization. Agronomics’ investment lifts its fully diluted ownership to 12.96%, giving BlueNalu a committed long-term backer with deep cellular-agriculture expertise. Although revenue figures are not yet disclosed, management positions the company as a leader in the emerging cultivated-seafood category.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2019

Kenzie Academy operates a 12‑month software engineering program with a physical campus in Indianapolis and a student body that is roughly 66% online. The school targets learners earlier in their career — many without college degrees — and combines technical training with critical thinking and communication skills. Kenzie reports an 85% graduation rate and a 90% job placement rate six months after graduation; 67% of its students earned less than $30,000 annually before enrolling. It offers three payment options (upfront, monthly plan, and ISAs), and ISA usage has grown from about 60% last year to roughly 85% in the latest cohort; the program requires a $100 upfront commitment on ISAs. Kenzie partners with groups like The Last Mile to serve formerly incarcerated students and works with state unemployment offices, nonprofits, and staffing firms to recruit diverse cohorts (55% non‑white, 36% women). The company is non‑Title IV and aims to scale access in the American heartland while pushing for ISA best practices and clearer consumer protections. Kenzie Academy offers a college-alternative, job-focused technology training curriculum targeted at learners in middle America. Its one-year, project-based programs include Software Engineering and UX Engineering designed to prepare candidates for employer needs. The company connects employers with graduates who have practical, portfolio-driven experience. Kenzie aims to accelerate careers by emphasizing hands-on projects rather than traditional degrees. The articles state the company intends to use new funding to expand operations and broaden its business reach. Founded in September 2017 by CEO Chok Ooi, Kenzie is based in Indianapolis. Kenzie Academy is a San Francisco, CA–based apprenticeship program offering a college-alternative model to develop modern tech workers. Led by co-founder and CEO Chok Leang Ooi, the curriculum pairs one year of immersive learning with one year of paid work at Kenzie Studio, the company's tech consulting subsidiary, to provide students real work experience. The program launched with software engineering courses and plans to expand offerings to digital marketing and user experience (UX) design. Its first campus opened in Indianapolis in January 2018. Kenzie closed a $4.2M seed round led by ReThink Education and intends to use the funds to expand its course offerings. Kenzie Academy was launched earlier this year by Chok Ooi (former CEO of Agility.io), Rehan Hasan (Galvanize cofounder), and Courtney Spence (CSpence Group cofounder). The school runs an experiential, entirely project-based curriculum intended to retrain workers in the American heartland for new-economy tech jobs. Its first in-person cohort of 24 students starts in January with an initial six-month program to train junior front-end developers; students can complete programs in six-month increments and the company ideally expects students to participate for two consecutive years. Tuition is $12,000 for the first six-month program and $12,000 for the subsequent six-month full-stack track (students who complete 10–20 hours/week of consulting work can earn a $4,000 subsidy). A following 12-month software engineer track costs $24,000, and students who continue with part-time consulting work can earn a full $24,000 subsidy; the company also says students will receive an additional hourly stipend for consulting work (hourly rate to be determined). The program is currently in-person in Indianapolis, with plans to offer online courses in the future, and Kenzie positions its more intensive hands-on approach as a differentiator from prior bootcamp entrants and other project-driven competitors such as Holberton School and 42.