Stride Health, an independent insurance broker serving people that don't get insurance through their jobs, raised $47 million in new financing, the company announced Tuesday.
King River Capital, a venture capital firm, led the Series A funding round, with additional investments from Allstate, Fidelity's F-Prime Capital, Mastercard, Moderne Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and Venrock. Stride has raised $96 million since its 2013 founding.
The startup will use the new money to grow its existing business, an app that helps freelancers, gig economy workers, independent contractors and part-time employees enroll in insurance coverage through Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
Stride works with more than 120 companies, including Amazon, DoorDash, Keller Williams and Willis Towers Watson. About 2.7 million people received health coverage through the company in 2021, with health insurance enrollment growing three and a half times faster than last year, according to a news release.
The company added two board members as part of the funding round, including Megan Guy, general partner and Co-Founder of King River Capital, and Opeyemi Oluwole, senior vice president of consumer engagement at Teladoc.
Insurance-related startups have raised big money in 2021, raking in hundreds of millions in investment. Waltham, Massachusetts-based Devoted Health plans to raise $1.2 billion in new funding on a valuation of $11.5 billion, Modern Healthcare reported last month. If the company raises the $1.2 billion it desires, it will hold the largest valuation—and stock price—among the other insurance upstarts.
In June, Minneapolis-based Bright Health Group raised $924 million on a valuation of $11.2 billion; in March, Medicare Advantage startup Orange, California-based Alignment Healthcare raised $391 million on a valuation of $3.3 billion; the same month, New York-based Oscar Health raised $1.2 billion on a valuation of $7 billion; and at the start of the year, Nashville-based Clover Health went public via special-purpose acquisition company merger on a valuation of $3.7 billion, according to Modern Healthcare.
