When It Comes To Startups In Developing Countries, Play The Long Game

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The lack of digitized records in developing countries' healthcare systems contributes to poor patient outcomes. Adegoke Olubusi, 25, Tito Ovia, 25, and Dimeji Sofowora, 25, sought to remedy the inefficiencies of paper-based healthcare systems within Africa by starting Helium Health. Helium Health provides vital digitized healthcare services such as electronic medical records, hospital management and insurance, billing, and analytics software for the continent’s top medical providers and services. The startup went through Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 batch and has gone on to raise $2.2 million from Western Tech, GreenHouse Capital, Cantos Ventures, A-Level Capital, angel investors and the accelerator itself.

Frederick Daso: What have been some of the challenges in working with foreign governments to build digitized healthcare infrastructure in their countries?

Adegoke Olubusi: I guess the biggest challenge is the lack of a proper incentive for them to want to make an impact or improve their healthcare system. Though many people claim they do, no one wants to put in the resources to make these things happen because it takes enormous amounts of compliance and regulatory work. I think one of the most significant issues is just having these governments incentivized actually to want to do these things. That's why we're not entirely focused on the public sector.

Daso: Even though your focus is mainly in the private sector, there are still a few government regulations that you have to abide by, especially in working in a foreign country, so what measures do you take to adhere to those rules or regulations and be compliant?

Olubusi: I guess that's the one problem with working in the healthcare space in Nigeria. There’s not much regulation around healthcare. It's not like the U.S. where you have all these different data laws about everyone who's running a health tech company. In these countries, a lot of them don't have data privacy and medical record protection laws. Seeing this is the case in Nigeria’s health space, we then have to take the extra effort of making sure we're compliant by international standards. We're also putting effort into working with the government on their community and infrastructure for the long-term.

Daso: You said that there is somewhat of a void of regulations.

Olubusi: Absolutely. There are disadvantages associated with that void, but it does have the advantage of being able to enable innovation very quickly and letting you do things quickly without having to jump through many hoops. If you're not someone who can get technology and who cares about patients and healthcare outcomes, you could end up just making many mistakes in the process of losing patient data. We see that all the time with a lot of other systems out there.

Daso: Oh wow. You mentioned your previous answer that you have the opportunity to actively work with governments and their committees and subcommittees to shape new regulations. What’s your approach to doing that to allow you guys to work in the space and be compliant as well as setting rules to ensure the best standards for your patients?

Olubusi: When we started in the private sector in Nigeria, we got into a competition against other startups around the country. We got selected by the office of the president to be the most innovative startup solving a real problem. We got to meet the president of Nigeria. From there, we were able to establish a relationship with the federal government and connect directly with the Ministry of Health. We repeatedly met with the vice president and the minister of health. These opportunities came up when we started in the private sector and allowed us to open up opportunities to work for the government.

Daso: Wonderful. Wonderful. It sounds like you guys have capitalized on opportunities to collaborate and partner with the federal government and its official capacities to shape regulation in these areas. Given your role in the company as the founder and CEO, do you have someone who dedicates their efforts towards handling these regulatory issues or is that something that you take on yourself?

Olubusi: One of my cofounders, Tito, handles the public sector aspect of the company and all our growth efforts. She manages public sector aspect, and in doing so, she also works with government, both at the federal and state levels. She went to the University of Manchester where she developed her extensive healthcare background. I am more of a tech person, but I went to John Hopkins, which is known for its medical programs. She has a healthcare sciences background, so it's a lot easier for her to handle that part.

Daso: Fantastic. My last question for you is for college students or recent graduates who have either founded or are wanting to establish a startup in a foreign country, what advice would you give to them if they didn't, especially if they lacked any prior knowledge of how the regulatory space works in their industry?

Olubusi: First of all, I'm telling them that it is a long game, especially if you want to go to and make an impact in a developing country and not a developed one. Get your mind ready for that. Governments are not trying to make decisions and change things very quickly. My second piece of advice would be you need to accept that you do not know anything, so whatever experience you already have in that field doesn't matter as much when all the circumstances change you need in a different country. There's critical knowledge that you need to create the right business. Learn how countries operate and start to understand why they act the way they do.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.

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This story was first published in Forbes.