U.S. insurtech startup Sidecar Health, founded in 2018, has been valued at $1 billion, reaching unicorn status, after closing a $125 million Series C investment round – a huge step up from the $20 million it raised last July.
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How Sidecar Health works
Today in the U.S., health insurance processes are generally associated with a bureaucratic maze or unaffordable costs, so much so that in 2019, more than 33 million people had no insurance. Sidecar Health aims to simplify the industry by offering flexible, digitally-enabled policies that can be managed completely online.
The startup‘s main strength is the ability to customize health coverage to individual needs: customers can choose the services they want to include in their insurance package, visit every available doctor (in the United States, insurance is often tied to a single network of hospitals), and compare prices offered by various professionals in their area before making a visit.
In addition, Sidecar Health provides a debit card to pay the amount due immediately after receiving the required service: a novelty in the U.S., where insurance agencies generally reimburse doctors only after completing a visit.
According to the company, this insurance formula allows savings of up to 40% compared to the monthly price of traditional policies.
Also thanks to the new round of investments, Sidecar Health intends to reach 30 thousand users by 2021, and expand from the 16 American States currently served to cover the entire country.
Insurtech unicorns
Over the last few years, several insurtech startups have become “unicorns”: hence, have reached or exceeded a rating of $1 billion, even without being listed on the stock exchange.
In addition to the newcomer Sidecar Health, the medical and healthcare sector features a number of (former) insurtech unicorns, all American: Bright Health, Oscar Health, which has just begun its IPO, and Clover Health, which went public last January.
Entering the financial markets is in fact considered by more and more insurtech unicorns, in all sectors, as the natural furtherance of their growth. Already in July 2020, Lemonade, on the strength of a $2 billion valuation, entered the stock market raising $319 million. The company offers digitally-enhanced insurance that covers homeowners, renters, and even pets. Then in November, it was the turn of Root Insurance, an insurtech specializing in automotive policies, which raised more than $700 million with the listing.
Other unicorns, however, are set to venture into the markets in the near future. At the end of July, home insurance giant Hippo raised $150 million, raising its valuation to $1.5 billion, and could enter the stock market in 2021. Also interested in making the jump is insurtech Metromile, which offers pay-per-mile car insurance and was valued at $1.3 billion last November.
Finally, other interesting insurtech startups are Next Insurance, which specializes in small business insurance and is valued at $2 billion; and wefox, which offers digital platforms designed to connect insurers, customers and dealers.
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