Helix Health receives €5m from Ulster Bank/Diageo fund


15 Apr 2011

Heathcare software provider Helix Health has raised €5m of equity funding from the Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund.

The funding will be used to strengthen Helix Health’s investment in driving export sales and to facilitate further investment in R&D projects. 

Helix Health was established in 2007 as a result of the merger between Systems Solutions and Medicom, becoming Ireland’s largest healthcare IT provider. It is now working on expanding its international portfolio.

CEO Howard Beggs, said, “This investment by The Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund is a very significant step in the growth story of Helix Health. It will facilitate further investment in our products to support local and international expansion.

“At the very core of the Helix Health agenda is the enhancement of patient care through technology and delivering efficiencies to clinicians and healthcare providers. The funding and NCB Ventures’ commitment to the business will help us realise our ambition to bring Helix Health global, and it speaks to the potential for this business to grow through the delivery of the best-in-class technology solutions.”

John Dolan of NCB Ventures, which manages the fund, said, “Helix is a great example of an indigenous Irish company that has, through its commitment to R&D, developed an impressive range of market-leading technology solutions for the primary healthcare sector.”

There is a global healthcare trend towards the co-ordinated provision of healthcare services at a primary care level between GPs, pharmacies and care homes.

Dolan said shared information technology will be central to this trend.

Helix Health products are used by more than 10,000 healthcare professionals across Ireland and the United Kingdom. The company’s systems are used in 70pc of pharmacies, 80pc of GP offices, 85pc of hospitals and 100pc of chemotherapy treatment centres.

Article courtesy of Businessandleadership.com