Collective Health Secures Funding Led by SoftBank Vision Fund to Advance Expansion in the $1.2 Trillion Employer Health Insurance Industry

Insurance Daily News

2019 JUL 03 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Health technology company Collective Health announced a $205 million round of new funding led by the SoftBank Vision Fund.

Collective Health will use the new funding to: Accelerate adoption of its enterprise healthcare platform with employers across the U.S. and deepen strategic partnerships across the industry Deliver even greater technology capabilities to address fundamental health insurance service issues that plague U.S. consumers and employers alike Accelerating adoption and deepening partnerships Building upon the increasing demand from American employers looking to address the ballooning complexity and cost of healthcare, Collective Health is accelerating growth across all 50 states by strengthening its national sales, engineering, and customer experience teams in San Francisco, Chicago, and Lehi.

Collective Health makes health insurance work for everyone. With more than 200,000 lives across over 45 enterprise clients in diverse industries such as technology, agriculture, entertainment, and retail, among others, Collective Health’s growth has gone from early adopter to mainstream since launching in 2013.

Collective Health plans to add new partnerships to its already expansive list of 80 integrated health partners on its open platform. These include new local and national medical PPO networks, provider systems serving the commercial market, and an increasing number of digital health solutions that allow seamless integration for both employer reporting and member engagement. Advancing product development and technology capabilities With much of the country’s health insurance industry still running on antiquated and disparate technology systems, Collective Health is rebuilding how a health plan works for both employers and the populations they cover in one, unified software platform. With four patents pending across its product suite, this new funding will support Collective Health’s expansion of its product and engineering team to accelerate development in core areas, including: Reducing administrative burden and waste By continuing to invest in improved claims and payments technology to enhance decades-old systems, Collective Health plans to enable more transparency around cost of care, faster payments, improved member navigation, and rapid fraud detection. As a result, all employer clients and members are able to make more timely, informed healthcare decisions and receive the information they need-right when they need it. Guiding members to treatments that meet their health needs while helping to reduce costs Collective Health enables employers to create a seamless experience for their people and drive engagement with their ecosystem of solutions to create healthier workforces. Collective Health’s patent-pending machine learning engine, CH Cortex™, identifies individual member care needs-from chronic disease management to radiology services and beyond. The Collective Health app and Member Advocates then guide people to appropriate partners, facilities, and providers for treatment.

Unlike many navigation and advocacy vendors who chase members after a high cost claim, Collective Health is already engaged with people through its products and Member Advocates, with 2/3 of claims preceded by an interaction with Collective Health. Delivering insights to employers that point the way to improved population health Collective Health Insights gives employers and their consultants a window into the trends that drive healthcare spend; for most companies, the size of that spend is second only to payroll. Insights will launch new features and datasets that extend the Collective Health commitment to helping employers better understand and manage emerging health issues, so they can move from reactive to proactive and, in turn, provide their people with better access to care.

The SoftBank Vision Fund led the round with additional participation from PSP Investments, DFJ Growth, and G Squared, as well as existing Collective Health investors including Founders Fund, GV, Maverick Ventures, Mubadala Ventures, NEA, Sun Life, and other leading investors. Quotes: “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,” said Ali Diab, Co-founder and CEO of Collective Health. “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.”

“With U.S. healthcare costs at $3.65 trillion in 2018, Collective Health is reinventing the healthcare experience for companies and their employees. Their innovative business model and technology platform are not only helping employers understand and optimize their healthcare spend, they are also providing employees with a better healthcare experience,” said Deep Nishar, Senior Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. “The company has continued to scale its business across U.S. employers, and we are excited to help them drive further innovation and adoption in the approximately $1.2 trillion employer health insurance industry.”

“Meaningful improvements in healthcare aren’t going to come from incumbents or consortiums,” said Mohamad Makhzoumi, General Partner and Head of Healthcare Services and Healthcare IT investing at NEA. “The healthcare industry needs a new foundation to run effectively and fill the gaping holes where proper technology doesn’t currently exist. We continue to double down on our partnership with Collective Health because it’s the only company that has built a software platform capable of reimagining the industry by focusing on the customer experience.”

“Sometimes working in benefits can feel like you’re on the hamster wheel of problem solving,” said Alice Vichaita, Global Head of Benefits at Pinterest. “People usually don’t remember their benefits on paper, but everyone remembers their experience, and we’re always working to support our employees in the best way possible. Collective Health is unparalleled and well beyond the industry standard, providing us the ability to better serve our people’s health demands while providing the type of healthcare experience our people want.” About Collective Health Collective Health simplifies employer healthcare with an integrated technology solution that makes health insurance work for everyone. With more than 200,000 members and over 45 enterprise clients-including Driscoll’s, Pinterest, Red Bull, Restoration Hardware, Zendesk and more-Collective Health is reinventing the healthcare experience for forward-thinking employers and their people across the U.S.

Collective Health is headquartered in San Francisco, CA with additional offices in Chicago, IL and Lehi, UT. Founded in 2013, Collective Health is backed by the SoftBank Vision Fund, DFJ Growth, PSP Investments, NEA, GV, G Squared, Founders Fund, Maverick Ventures, Mubadala Ventures, Sun Life, and other leading investors. For more information, visit https://www.collectivehealth.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190617005195/en/