Durban – Medical technology company Healthbridge has acquired a strategic stake in Durban-based medical innovation company Alchemed, deepening a four-year partnership and accelerating the development of AI-powered software for specialist surgeons in South Africa.
This strategic investment converts a successful sales relationship into an equity partnership, combining HealthBridge's national medical technology track record and Alchemed's specialized clinical software expertise to better serve market segments with complex clinical, operational, and billing requirements.
The investment forms part of Healthbridge's broader strategy to expand by partnering with South African health tech innovators, rather than building all solutions in-house.
Since February 2022, Alchemed has been selected as HealthBridge's orthopedic specialty partner.
The close relationship will enable deeper collaboration in product development and create new opportunities to expand our expert-focused healthcare technology across South Africa.
“We invested in Alchemed because it combines deep clinical insight with a modern, AI-first approach to innovation,” said Luis da Silva, CEO of Healthbridge.
“Having established a strong foothold among orthopedic surgeons alongside Alchemed, we are now well positioned to expand into other surgical specialties.
“The combination of Alchemed's expertise and Healthbridge's scale will accelerate the development of practice management solutions designed specifically for the needs of surgeons by integrating clinical, technology and AI capabilities.”
Founded in 2018 by orthopedic surgeon Dr. William Haynes and software entrepreneur Darryl Smith, Alchemed was born out of practical challenges in real-world medical settings.
Dr. Haynes approached Mr. Smith to help automate routine administrative processes in his own practice, and what started as a workflow solution evolved into a sophisticated cloud-based practice management platform tailored to the needs of specialized clinicians.
Currently, Alchemed supports 23 different medical specialties throughout the patient journey, from appointment scheduling and clinical records to prescriptions, billing, and practice analytics.
The platform includes AI-enabled features that streamline administrative and clinical workflows, allowing professionals to spend less time on paperwork and more time focusing on patient care.
“We don't believe that innovation needs to happen within a single company,” da Silva says.
“Our strategy is to identify great healthcare technology entrepreneurs, help them scale through our ecosystem, and deepen our commitment to businesses that create real value for healthcare professionals.
“Alchemed has demonstrated its value throughout our four-year partnership.”
The South African specialty market has unique workflows, clinical documentation, and billing complexities that are often difficult to effectively address with typical practice management software.
“Alchemed was born in the surgical field out of a simple frustration that it took too much time to administer and not enough time to spend with patients,” said Dr. William Haynes, CEO of Alchemed.
“Our business has maintained an ARR growth rate of 70% over the past two years and HealthBridge provides the scale, reach and healthcare expertise needed to bring its solutions to more specialist clinicians across South Africa.
“Together, we can accelerate innovation and deliver meaningful improvements to the way professionals do their jobs.”
For existing Alchemed customers, it's business as usual.
Alchemed teams, products, and support channels remain unchanged, but strategic investments provide additional resources to accelerate product development and innovation.
*This article was first published in our sister publication techfinancials.co.za.
