Accolade has raised $50 million as part of an effort to expand its customer base from large employer benefit navigation customers such as Lowe’s and Comcast to midsized businesses, or what CFO Steve Barnes refers to as the enterprise segment of the market.
The company has spent the past two years since its previous $70 million fundraise for its Series E round on building out its technology platform and building relationships with technology vendors to plug into its network such as Livongo and Omada Health as well as telemedicine providers.
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New investors taking part in the round included private equity firm Cross Creek Advisors and Madeira Tech Partners. They were joined by returning investors Andreessen Horowitz, McKesson Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, and Carrick Capital Partners. To date, the company has raised $200 million.
Last summer the company rolled out a component to its product called Maya to make more personalized health recommendations to employees at companies that use its technology. That might include extra help for people with chronic conditions or answering questions about medical bills and claims. On-call nurses can offer suggestions to users on which services are appropriate depending on healthcare needs. Accolade also provides an app that makes it easier for users to share their medical information.
Another tool it has added that’s of use to employers is Accolade IQ.
“In realtime, it allows employers to understand what apps their staff are using and helps them scale benefits,” said Barnes in a phone interview.
Barnes added that these improvements have helped employers reduce average annual costs for healthcare spending by more than 4 percent.
Accolade, which employs 850 across offices in Philadelphia, Seattle, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Prague, has made several senior-level hires within the past two years. Ivor Horn joined as Chief Medical Officer and Harish Naidu was appointed Chief Technology Officer. Last year, Brad Mirkovich was named chief revenue officer and Dave Swift became chief service officer
With an eye to retailers moving more aggressively into healthcare such as Amazon and most recently Walmart’s early stage talks with Humana, Barnes regards this as a positive trend for Accolade.
“We think it validates that there is dramatic change happening in the healthcare industry. We think ultimately those announcements validate the services we provide…They validate the opportunity we are pursuing.”
Photo: Abscent84, Getty Images
