Heidi hits $1.26B valuation, plans sales expansion into Asia and Middle East
Melbourne AI healthcare startup Heidi closed $475 million in new funding, valuing the company at $1.26 billion and making it one of Australia's newest unicorns. The round splits into $100 million equity led by Blackbird and $240 million growth capital from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund.
The General Catalyst portion is debt-like financing tied to customer value metrics and specifically earmarked for sales and marketing expansion into Asia and the Middle East. That is unusual structure for a growth round and signals aggressive go-to-market scaling ahead.
Heidi started in 2019 as an AI clinical documentation tool, think medical note-taking automation, but has pushed into broader workflow automation and what CEO Dr Thomas Kelly calls a "fully-fledged AI partner" for clinicians. The product now handles appointment prep, referrals, follow-ups, and patient contact before visits. That broader platform play means enterprise sales into health systems and hospitals, not just individual clinician seats.
Headcount is approaching 600 employees, up from 200-500 range reported last year. The company is hiring across APAC, including revenue and payroll roles, which tracks with international expansion and local market support buildout. Heidi's careers page shows active hiring in Sydney, Melbourne, and across the region.
The company has traction in UK NHS, plus expansion in US, Canada, France, Spain, Germany, Ireland, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, and New Zealand public health approval. That geographic footprint gives it credibility for enterprise health system sales, which typically require local presence and regulatory compliance.
Prior to this round, Heidi had raised $96.6 million, including a $65 million Series B in 2025 led by Point72 Private Investments. The new capital lifts total funding materially and sets up a health tech sales hiring wave across ANZ and APAC.
For context: healthcare sales is a different motion than tech SaaS. Enterprise health system deals run 12-18 month cycles, require clinical validation, and involve procurement processes that would make a CRO cry. But the market is enormous and sticky once you are in. Heidi is betting big on enterprise expansion, and the sales org is scaling to match.