A Melbourne AI startup that started by writing a doctor’s notes is now in use across 190 countries, and Blackbird called it the fastest growing company in its portfolio since Canva.
What it does
Heidi was founded by Dr Thomas Kelly, a former vascular surgical resident, with Waleed Mussa and Yu Liu. It began as an AI medical scribe: it listens to a consult and writes the clinical notes. Doctors lose hours a day to admin, so the pitch is simple. Give clinicians time back and cut burnout.
Global from day one
Heidi went offshore early. It supports consults in 110 languages, and its customers include Beth Israel Lahey Health in Massachusetts, the Yukon Government in Canada and Monash Health at home.
The raises
- October 2025: a US$65M Series B led by Point72, at a US$465M valuation. At that point it was supporting about 2 million consults a week across 116 countries.
- September 2026: US$340M, made up of a US$100M Series C led by Blackbird plus US$240M of non-equity money from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund. Valuation: US$900M.
As reported, annual recurring revenue went from US$1M to US$50M in two years, and Heidi now supports about 2.8 million patient interactions a week.
My read
When I first covered Heidi it was at a US$465M valuation. Less than a year later it has nearly doubled. The interesting part is the go global early bet. A clinical tool that works in 110 languages is hard to copy, and that’s where an Aussie company can beat the big consumer AI players.