Product Operations

Heidi targets more Asia-Pacific health systems. The AI scribe company plans deeper regional expansion after raising $340 million to support global growth. By Adam Ang | September 28, 2026 | 12:36 AM Melbourne-based Heidi is expanding further across Asia-Pacific, gaining traction in North Asia and other key regional markets following its latest $340 million funding raise. It recently closed a $100 million Series C funding round led by Blackbird and secured a further $240 million in growth funding through a round led by General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF). The AI scribe developer said the latest funding valued the company at A$1.26 billion or $900 million. WHY IT MATTERS Heidi will use its fresh investments to scale across global health systems and continue strengthening its regulatory and clinical safety foundations. The investment will also allow the company to "go deeper in Asia," said co-founder and CEO Dr Thomas Kelly, as it expands into more health systems and clinical settings across the region. Heidi has set up regional hubs in Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as in-country data hosting infrastructure in Japan. In Hong Kong, it signed a commercial agreement with non-hospital care provider EC Healthcare and a memorandum of understanding with Hong Kong Metropolitan University to train nurses. KPJ Healthcare, one of Malaysia's largest private healthcare providers, is rolling out Heidi across its 27 hospitals. "Asia is one of the most diverse healthcare environments in the world, across languages, cultures and care models, and getting it right here matters for how Heidi works everywhere," Dr Kelly said in a statement to MobiHealth News. "We are also seeing strong organic traction in North Asia and other key markets across the region," he added. Heidi also has a presence in the Philippines, South Korea, Indonesia and India. THE LARGER TREND Earlier this year, Heidi expanded beyond its core AI scribe with new tools, creating a more connected clinical platform. It launched the ad-free medical research tool Evidence, which competes with OpenEvidence and DoxGPT, and its first wearable device, Remote, a microphone that captures consultations across settings for transcription by its AI scribe. Heidi also launched Dictate, a voice-to-text feature.

Cheque-in: 7 startups raised $274.7 million this week. Heidi, Amber and five Aussie startups banked $274.7m to chase AI health, clean energy and space dominance - see who's cashing in. The numbers in this week's startup funding round-up are big, and the ambitions are even bigger. Led by Heidi's massive $140 million Series C raise, this week's funding deals represent major milestones for the seven startups included as they pioneer new tech and enter new global markets. Keep reading to learn more about Heidi, Amber, HEO Robotics, Kinoxis Therapeutics, OpenDebt, RentBetter and Medcast which collectively raised $274.7 million this week. Heidi: $140 million. AI-powered healthcare platform Heidi has secured $475 million in new capital through a blockbuster fundraise that values the business at $1.26 billion. The new funding comes in two parts, with its core $140 million Series C raise led by existing investor Blackbird, with contributions from Phoenix Court, Point72 Private Investments, and Headline. An additional $335 million in non-equity growth funding comes from American venture capital firm General Catalyst through its Customer Value Fund. Get the best of Startup Daily straight to your inbox. Co-founded in 2021 by Dr Tom Kelly, Waleed Mussa, and Yu Liu, Heidi records appointments and produces structured documents for medical professionals to review. With one of the most significant capital raises of any Australian venture this year, the newly minted unicorn plans to grow further beyond its existing transcription and case management tools. The next step: scaling what Kelly described as a "fully-fledged AI partner", capable of handling vital background work and allowing clinicians more time for face-to-face care. Amber: $78.5 million. Renewable energy supplier Amber Electric has raised $78.5 million in a Series E, nearly doubling its round size plan as it looks to expand globally. The raise was led by 1GT, Morgan Stanley's climate tech fund, with support from existing investors ETF Partners (Environmental Technologies Fund), state government backed Innovation Victoria and E.ON. Amber has built Australia's largest residential battery automation product, with around half the local market. Co-founder and co-CEO Chris Thompson said they'll use the funds to double down on expansion across Europe. "We've built the winning energy automation platform in Australia, and this funding will enable us to extend our leadership across Europe," he said. "Our partnership with E.ON is already showing what's possible, and we're excited to build on that momentum with more partners across the region." HEO Robotics: $37 million. Veteran satellite inspection startup HEO Robotics has raised a $37 million (US$25 million) Series B to expand its satellite imaging network into geostationary orbit. The round was led by Beaten Zone Venture Partners, alongside the federal government's National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC), which tipped in $10 million, Dcode Capital and existing investors Airtree and Salus Ventures. The new funding follows an Airtree-led $12 million Series A in 2023. A 2021 Seed round, led by Winton Group founder David Harding and Y Combinator, raised $3 million HEO uses cameras aboard other satellites, alongside its own sensors, to turn attention to other spacecraft, then photograph and assess their condition and behaviour. Its software plots what to photograph and and analyses the results. The company, which emerged out of UNSW Founders in 2017, said it has access to more than 50 sensors in orbit and has deployed eight of its own. Kinoxis Therapeutics: $6.75 million. Dementia treatment biotech Kinoxis Therapeutics has raised $6.75 million in equity funding alongside nailing a $2.5 million government grant from the federal government's Medical Research Future Fund. Deep tech VC Main Sequence led the round, chipping in $5 million as a new investor, with principal Elaine Stead appointed a director. The grant comes via the CUREator+ Dementia & Cognitive Decline program, delivered by Brandon BioCatalyst, ANDHealth and Dementia Australia. The cash will go towards developing drugs for agitation associated with dementia. The Sydney University spinout, founded in 2017, and now based in Melbourne, previously raised a $14.5 million Series B two years ago and a $5 million Series A2 in December 2020. The cap table also includes Uniseed, UniSuper, Sydney Uni, Stoic VC, and US-based Avicella Capital, as well as several sophisticated investors. The $9.25 million in new cash is for clinical trials and treatments for dementia-related agitation and pain. Medcast: $5.4 million. Medical edtech Medcast landed $5.4 million to make AI clinical knowledge platform MedLuma the trusted AI copilot for Australian GPs. Veteran Queensland medical software business Best Practice Software led the investment into the regional NSW medical education and training business. Plans for the raise include adding to the headcount in the technology and clinical teams, and product development and integration with clinical software, including Best Practice's practice management systems. First founded in 2013 in Bowral by CEO Dr Stephen Barnett and chief product officer Justin Lewis, the startup has delivered clinical education and professional development to over 100,000 registered healthcare professionals. RentBetter: $5 million. Sydney startup RentBetter has landed $5 million from local VC EVP to build out an AI-powered self-management system. RentBetter runs a platform allowing property owners advertise rentals, screen applicants against tenancy databases, sign leases, coordinate repairs and track income and expenses. It previously raised $3.2 million, including a $1.9m Series A in January 2022. The company was founded by its CEO Jeremy Goldschmidt, previously a management consultant for Boston Consulting Group, Capgemini, Blackdot and IBM. Goldschmidt founded RentBetter in 2016 as a bit of a 'side hustle' while working at ANZ. OpenDebt: $2 million. Sydney AI fintech OpenDebt has raised $2 million in a pre-Seed round as it looks to expland into the US market, where household debt in delinquency tops $1 trillion. The raise was backed by Blackbird and early-stage VC Antler, and will be deployed on scaling the team and operations, as well as exploring US partnership opportunities. Former Westpac data and AI executive Norman Yan, a 15-year banking veteran, founded OpenDebt with Jonas Tischer 12 months ago, taking a compliance and consumer-focused approach to debt recovery, involving AI agents in multichannel conversations. The AI is designed to identify why an account is unpaid and respond accordingly, offering simpler ways for people ready to settle their account and for someone in financial hardship, specialist support. OpenDebt is already working with several local lenders and collection agencies. * This article originally appeared on SmartCompany. You can read the original here.

Heidi secures $340M to turn its NHS AI scribe into a full clinical AI partner. September 23, 2026 * Heidi raised $340M - $100M in Series C equity and $240M in non-dilutive growth financing - at a $900M valuation, almost double its price eight months ago. * The AI scribe now supports 2.8 million patient interactions a week across 190 countries, and is the sole supplier for the NHS's largest-ever clinical AI documentation deal. * Annual recurring revenue jumped from $1 million to $50 million in two years, even as one of its two new checks lands from a fund that takes no equity at all. Heidi has raised $340 million as it pushes its AI Care Partner beyond note-taking and into the rest of a clinician's workday. The money comes in two pieces: a $100 million Series C led by Blackbird, with existing backers Phoenix Court, Point72 Private Investments and Headline also participating, and a separate $240 million growth investment from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund. Only the first part is equity. The Series C values the Melbourne company at $900 million, nearly double the $465 million it carried eight months ago. "From the day I started Heidi, the ambition was always bigger than writing doctor's notes. I imagined AI sitting alongside clinicians throughout their work, from documenting consultations to helping carry out the work that follows them," said Dr Thomas Kelly, co-founder and chief executive of Heidi. Kelly, a former vascular surgical trainee, founded Heidi in Melbourne in 2021 with Waleed Mussa and Yu Liu. The platform started as ambient documentation and has since added Heidi Evidence, a point-of-care clinical guidance tool that has answered more than 10 million clinician queries since launching in March, alongside a wearable microphone (Remote) and a voice-to-text feature (Dictate). The NHS becomes the proving ground. The UK is now central to that expansion. Heidi was selected earlier this year as sole supplier for NHS England Midlands' clinical AI documentation framework, which it describes as the largest procurement of its kind in NHS history, covering 15 acute and community trusts, every integrated care board in the region and 1,239 GP practices. Heidi says its UK footprint has returned several million hours of clinical capacity back to frontline teams, though the company should confirm the latest figure before publication; its most recent published UK impact report put the number at just over four million hours. A crowded AI scribe market. Heidi isn't the only company chasing this. Tech Funding News recently covered Tandem Health's $100 million Series B, which pairs AI scribing with coding assistance and clinical decision support across European hospitals. Further down market, TFN reported on Mindoo's €5 million raise for configurable AI agents that handle hospital intake and follow-up communication rather than transcription alone. The direction of travel across the category is the same: from documenting care to acting on it. Heidi's answer is to build the compute-heavy pieces - transcription and note generation - almost entirely on its own models rather than licensing frontier ones, which the company says lets it tune accuracy, latency and cost task by task. "We are proud to continue backing Heidi and their mission to double the world's healthcare capacity and deliver relief to every clinician across the globe. The team's strong domain expertise and product - that clinicians deeply trust - make this ambition absolutely achievable," said Julia Svennerstål-Hawkins, general partner at Phoenix Court. The harder question now is whether a debt-like, revenue-share instrument like General Catalyst's becomes the template other AI-scribe companies use to scale sales without diluting founders, or whether it's a structure only companies with Heidi's growth economics can access.