Sana Secures $20M in Series A Extension Funding to Break up the ‘Big 5’ Health Insurance Monopoly

• Series A extension funding round led by Gigafund with new investors American Family Ventures, Breyer Capital, JAM Fund, and Harmon Brothers Ad Ventures
• Funds will fuel the expansion of zero-cost healthcare options, digital health offerings, and care navigation, all supporting Sana's unique value-based care approach
• Sana’s goal is to reduce healthcare costs for businesses and improve health outcomes for the 50% of Americans that get their coverage through their employers

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Sana, a provider of health insurance for small and midsize businesses, announced today the closing of $20M in series A extension funding. Sana offered this extension to strengthen ties with existing lead investor Gigafund and to bring in several new strategic partners, including American Family Ventures, Breyer Capital, JAM Fund, and Harmon Brothers Ad Ventures. Existing investors, including Trust Ventures and mark vc, also joined the round.

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Will Young, Sana CEO and Co-Founder (Photo: Business Wire)

Investments from top investors in insurtech, insurance, regulated industries, and some of the most successful early-stage investors in the country speak to Sana’s trajectory towards becoming an industry leader and challenging the Big 5 health insurance companies.

With these key investments, Sana will implement the strategies of those most intimately familiar with the nuances of the health insurance and healthcare spaces and those who have been successful at vetting business models of early-stage firms.

These investors know the industry well and have voted on Sana’s distinct vertically integrated business model with their checks. From bringing several facets of the health insurance value chain under one roof to providing direct care to members, Sana is poised to take on the health insurance monopolies across the U.S. in a way few others can.

“Sana’s goal is to improve health outcomes and decrease healthcare costs. We’ve developed a care model that keeps members healthy by focusing on primary and preventive care, and providing access to centers of excellence for more complex procedures,” said Will Young, CEO and co-founder of Sana. “At the same time, our marketing and sales efforts are laser-focused on ensuring that as many small businesses as possible are taking advantage of that model. This round of investment supports both of these initiatives.”

Sana Doubles State Footprint in 2021; Additional Plans for Capital Raised

Currently, Sana is available in Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, and Kentucky and has grown its customer base by 140% in just the past year. Sana plans to use the capital to invest in strategic initiatives such as advanced primary care and to accelerate their expansion into new markets and within their existing footprint.

In addition to these efforts, Sana plans to invest the capital in key aspects of their value-based care approach, including zero-cost care options, digital health offerings, care navigation, and building a new network of high-quality providers committed to fair pricing practices. The funds will also fuel the expansion of Sana’s direct sales model.

Sana’s mission continues to be to expand health insurance options for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) as they face unprecedented challenges and rising costs across their organizations. As such, SMBs that want to offer high-quality health insurance plans at an affordable cost are turning to Sana to meet these needs.

"We wanted to offer our employees the best healthcare options available - telehealth, maternity care, mental healthcare, and an open network," said Sana customer Anika Zaman, COO of Brevy. "Sana was able to provide all of that at prices we could afford and customer support that made onboarding simple."

Investor Perspectives on Series A Extension Funding Round

“Gigafund makes large, long-term investments in companies that are solving society's biggest problems,” said Stephen Oskoui, managing partner of Gigafund. “Healthcare is an essential industry that has been broken for decades, and Sana is fixing the system by realigning incentives and delivering better care at lower costs. We believe that Sana is on track to become one of the world's biggest and most significant companies."

“For years, there has been a gap in the small business healthcare market which has resulted in unaffordable and rising premiums with lackluster coverages,” said Katelyn Johnson, Managing Director of American Family Ventures. “In fact, even most Fortune 500s have opted to self-fund for exactly this reason. Sana is bringing much-needed innovation to the overlooked but massive small and midsize business segment through their level-funded product and revolutionizing the care options and benefits that these companies can provide to their employees.”

About Sana

Sana provides small and midsize businesses with Fortune 500-level healthcare at prices they can afford. Sana is reducing the cost of high-quality care through value-based care, the Sana Care ecosystem of world-class providers, direct primary care, and more. Sana is making it easier than ever to administer benefits for employers and offers simplified health plans and top-notch customer service to employees. Sana provides a total healthcare solution to small and midsize businesses that drives down costs while simultaneously delivering an exceptional quality of care.

About Gigafund

Gigafund is a venture capital firm backing the world's most ambitious and transformative entrepreneurs. Gigafund was founded by former Founders Fund partners Luke Nosek and Stephen Oskoui and has over $2B in assets under management. Gigafund’s largest investments include SpaceX, Lambda School, Luminous Computing, the Boring Company, Veryable, Last Energy, and Sana Benefits. More information can be found at Gigafund.com.

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Matt Grant
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Source: Sana