Online insurance solution Collective Health raises $205M

The company has now raised $435 million in funding

Earlier this year, I put together a list of healthtech companies that could potentially go public in 2019, including big names like Oscar, Clover and Bright Health. One of the companies on that list was health insurance solution Collective Health, which had already raised $229 million at a $1 billion valuation; now the the company has some big news that could make a potential IPO even more likely.

On Monday, Collective Health announced that it raised a $205 million round of new funding led by the SoftBank Vision Fund, bringing its total funding to date to $435 million. DFJ Growth and PSP Investments, as well as existing investors including Founders Fund, GV, Maverick Ventures, NEA, Sun Life, and other investors, also participated in the round. The company would not disclose its current valuation.

Collective Health was founded in 2013, after Ali Diab, CEO of Collective Health, fell ill with a life threatening illness. It was painful, he wrote in a blog post, but dealing with his insurance company made it even worse.

That is why the company is looking to upend the current health insurance model, allowing employers to enroll their employees in health plans, via an online platform, which conform to their needs, and which are easier to understand than traditional healthcare plans. 

Collective Health partners with employers to design and administer a set of health plans that allow employees to choose the best plan for their needs, to have a clear understanding of their benefits across medical, dental and vision, to access their health and claims information online and through a mobile app. Employers work with Collective Health to design health plans that meet the needs of their populations by bringing together medical, dental, pharmacy and vision networks, in addition to other health benefit programs the employer has in place for their employees.

"We've recently released a handful of product features aimed at better member guidance and advocacy as well as helping employers better understand the cost and impact of their health programs," the company told me.

The new funding will be used, in part, to accelerate adoption of the company's enterprise healthcare platform, as well as expanding its product development and technology.

Collective Health also said it plans to add new partnerships, including new local and national medical PPO networks, provider systems serving the commercial market, and digital health solutions "that allow seamless integration for both employer reporting and member engagement." The company already has 80 integrated health partners on its platform.

It will also use the funding to continue its growth through hiring, specifically in its national sales, engineering, and customer experience teams in San Francisco, Chicago, and Lehi. Collective Health currently has over 500 employees across those three offices, but would not disclose how many it plans to add.

When asked what’s next for Collective Health, and if an IPO is potentially on the horizon, Collective Health would only say that its "goal is to continue building a sustainable business while improving health outcomes and lowering costs."

A big part of what makes this investment exciting for Collective Health is the inclusion of the SoftBank Vision Fund.

“We’re appreciative of our investors, both new and returning, in their commitment to supporting our mission to fix the deepest rooted problems in healthcare today,” Diab said in a statement.

“We’re excited to have the SoftBank Vision Fund lead the round given their proven track record of supporting category-defining companies, and they share our vision for a better healthcare experience. Whether working with more networks or helping facilitate direct relationships between employers and provider systems, we will continue to set the standard for the industry with a focus on the customer, providing the healthcare experience we all deserve.”

(Image source: collectivehealth.com)