Helium Health Receives $2.5 Million Google Grant to Deploy AI for Maternal Health in Nigeria

Nigerian health-tech company Helium Health has secured a $2.5 million grant from Google.org, Google's philanthropic arm, to combat high maternal mortality rates in Nigeria using AI-driven clinical tools. This grant makes Helium Health the only Nigerian organization among 15 global beneficiaries of the $30 million Google.org Impact Challenge: AI for Government Innovation. The funding, announced in Lagos, will support the expansion of their HeliumMum initiative, aiming to significantly reduce maternal deaths across four Nigerian states.

The project specifically targets Nigeria's severe maternal health burden, where the country accounts for nearly three out of every ten maternal deaths worldwide. Helium Health's initiative, HeliumMum, plans to reach an additional 1.9 million pregnant women and aims for a 30 percent reduction in maternal mortality in Lagos, Delta, Kano, and Oyo states over a three-year period, with Lagos as the primary launch location.

The AI technology integrated into the HeliumMum platform uses machine learning algorithms to identify high-risk pregnancy complications early, such as pre-eclampsia and severe anemia. It provides frontline healthcare workers with real-time risk scores and clinical decision support, standardizing care delivery. The system also integrates with Helium Health's electronic medical records for continuous patient monitoring and offers aggregated, anonymized data insights to public health administrators for resource allocation and policy formulation.

Beyond financial support, Helium Health will also participate in a Google.org Accelerator program, receiving pro bono technical assistance from Google's AI experts. This collaboration will help optimize the algorithms for local clinical settings, demonstrating a sustainable model for improving health outcomes. This initiative represents one of the largest systemic deployments of maternal health AI on the African continent, building on Helium Health's decade-long experience in digital healthcare infrastructure across West Africa.