On Tech: Here’s Nigeria New Tech Startup Transforming Medical Fundraising Online By Waliyulah Olayiwola
In the heart of Nigeria’s bustling tech landscape, a remarkable startup is making waves as a beacon of hope for countless hospitalized individuals in their struggle against poverty and their inability to afford healthcare.
This startup has been a catalyst for several medical crowdfunding successes. Helpa, often referred to as the ‘Nigerian GoFundMe’ by its growing number of users, stands as a testament to innovation, compassion, and the power of community support.
Helpa’s Vision for a Better Nigeria
Rashidat Amode, CEO and Co-founder of Helpa, envisions a brighter future for Nigeria, where no one is held back by financial constraints from pursuing their dreams or overcoming life’s challenges. She emphasizes Helpa’s mission to democratize fundraising, particularly medical fundraising making it accessible to every Nigerian.
“We founded Helpa with the belief that every sick individual who cannot afford expensive medical procedures should have the opportunity to turn to their community and the wider world for support when they need it the most,” says Helpa CEO and Co-founder, Rashidat Amode. “Our goal is to empower people to afford their own healthcare, one crowdfunding campaign at a time, and provide NGOs with a platform to raise funds for causes that matter deeply to them.” She concluded.
Salahudeen Tope, COO and Co-founder of Helpa, underscores the transformative power of digital technology and its role in combating poverty. He acknowledges the importance of equipping Nigerians with the right easy to use platform necessary to thrive in today’s connected world.
“In this digital age, being able to use the power of the internet for crowdfunding has become a blessing and a game-changer for funding medical treatments for needy individuals,” Salahudeen Tope explains.
“Our mission extends beyond fundraising; we aim to uplift our society by fostering a culture of giving, making medical crowdfunding easy to access by the common man.”
He continued, “Helpa is meant to empower individuals and NGOs with the tools they need to succeed on their chosen personal or corporate projects respectively. Gone are the days when the only platform people go to for online crowdfunding is Gofundme. Helpa was created to remove the worry of having to create campaigns that only receive funds in a foreign currency. With Helpa, you can create fundraisers that receive funds both in local Naira currency and foreign currency for donors in diaspora.”
The Power of Helpa Crowdfunding Campaigns
Helpa has become a catalyst for countless success stories in the Nigerian crowdfunding space.
Of course, Helpa is primarily a medical fundraising platform for individuals but it also supports NGOs to champion any cause important to them.
Individual users who need to create accounts on Helpa can only do so for medical treatment fundraising. However, NGOs are not limited to medical related causes.
Take the case of young Oghenekeno, a 2-year old girl, for an instance.
She had congenital heart disease. She was able to overcome the financial barrier to performing the surgical procedure to treat the disease thanks to Helpa and other generous donors.
Here’s another inspiring story of Mrs Amina, a single mother of four, as an example of one of Helpa’s many crowdfunding success stories.
She successfully raised a sum of ₦350,000 on Helpa for her eye treatment
“Through my Helpa fundraising campaign, I was able to fulfill my dream of seeing clearly again. Cataracts has been affecting my eyes since I can remember and it’s expensive. The support I received from friends, family, and even strangers was overwhelming,” says Mrs Amina, after she successfully raised the needed funds for her eye treatment.
Of course, that’s not all. There are many more cases of people who needed healthcare but could not afford it. And as such, their expensive healthcare procedures which would have otherwise been impossible have become realities through the innovative crowdfunding solution called Helpa.
Take another example the case of Mr. Zakariyyah who is a diabetic patient for over 5 years and had developed complications like the foot ulcer.
His leg was due for amputation but he couldn’t afford the cost of prosthetics and surgery. His daughter created a fundraising campaign on Helpa to seek help for his hospital treatment which was to the tune of ₦1.27 million naira.
And thankfully, the campaign yielded a whopping sum of ₦1.46 million, over the target, in a span of about 4 weeks.
In its journey, Helpa has not only facilitated individual campaigns but also contributed to community development and social impact. Since inception in December 2022, the platform has successfully facilitated about 30 million Naira in donations for about 100 fundraiser campaigns. This demonstrates how Helpa is bridging the gap in healthcare access by connecting those in need with willing donors. And they are on a mission to do even more.
A Brighter Future with Helpa
Helpa stands as a testament to the power of technology to drive social change and address pressing issues like poverty in the society. With its dedicated team led by Rashidat Amode and Salahudeen Tope, Helpa is on a mission to transform fundraising in Nigeria, fostering a culture of giving, and creating a brighter future for all Nigerians.
As Nigeria continues to embrace the digital age, Helpa is not just a crowdfunding platform; it’s a movement that holds the promise of positive change and lasting impact for the Nigerian society and the world at large. If the Nigerian masses can be likened to a battered poor woman that needs collective help, Helpa has been created not just to literally help-her but to also empower her dreams of affording her hospital bills with your collective help.
