Australian AI healthcare platform Heidi will use Toronto as its home base for a North American expansion.
The news: Heidi announced on Tuesday morning that it will invest $25.4 million CAD to grow its footprint in Canada, including establishing its North American headquarters in Toronto.
The company, which makes an AI scribe platform for doctors, said the Toronto headquarters will carry out research and development and manage partnerships across the region. Heidi has already hired 17 employees in Canada and expects to create an additional 30 jobs in its engineering, clinical, and commercial departments.
The investment in Toronto comes as Heidi secures $340 million USD ($477 million CAN) in new funding, at a valuation of $900 million USD.
From the source: “This round lets us build out in Canada properly, through more engineers and staff in the Toronto office, deeper local research, and real work alongside hospitals and primary care teams,” Heidi co-founder and CEO Thomas Kelly said in a statement, adding that Ontario was a natural choice for the North American headquarters.
The context: Heidi looks to Toronto as its North American launch point amid rapid growth. The company says its platform has supported more than 175 million patient visits and over 67 million clinical hours. Its annual recurring revenue grew from $1 million USD to $50 million USD in just two years, as of this past April.
Canada is a big part of that growth. Heidi says Canada represents its fastest-growing user base, as well as its second-largest market after Australia. Its work in Canada includes a collaboration with Toronto’s Vector Institute on clinical AI research, and its platform is in use by hospitals like Halton Healthcare, North York General, as well as “multiple Ontario Health Teams.”
Final thought: AI scribes such as Heidi’s are gaining popularity by relieving doctors’ administrative burdens, though some, like Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner, have raised concerns about potential risks around data privacy, accountability, and bias. Heidi said it recently hired Dr. Sameer Shaikh to lead its clinical strategy in Canada by working with hospitals, primary care teams, and clinician groups on safe adoption and clinical AI literacy.
Feature image courtesy Heidi via LinkedIn.