MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Optum and Audax Health Solutions, Inc., today announced that Optum has acquired a majority stake in Audax.
Since its founding in 2010, Audax has quickly attracted widespread interest in its technology that enables consumers to better manage their health. Through strategic partnerships with health plans, distribution partners, employers, care providers and condition-management companies, alongside integration with wearables companies like Fitbit, Polar, Withings and BodyMedia, Audax has swiftly gained market share, providing millions of users with its innovative, consumer-centric digital offering. Optum plans to expand Audax’s offerings to more broadly support consumers’ need for integrated benefit selection, wellness and health care administration.
“Since day one, our vision at Audax has been to positively impact the way consumers manage their health. Today, we took a huge step toward achieving that goal,” said Grant Verstandig, CEO and founder of Audax. “Joining with Optum, especially with its unmatched depth of experience and resources, accelerates our momentum, providing the additional reach and scale required to meaningfully advance health care more rapidly.”
“Optum and Audax share the common goals of improving health care and making the health system work better, and we believe the combination of our skills and experience serving people across virtually every health care channel can help us reach those goals faster,” said David Wichmann, UnitedHealth Group CFO. “The shareholders, customers, leadership and employees of Audax are already making compelling contributions to managing health. We are committed to supporting the ongoing efforts of the Audax team to engage consumers in taking better control of their health.”
John Sculley, Audax investor and board member, said, “Optum’s investment in Audax is evidence that a new era of consumer engagement and innovation can be the turning point that sets a new trajectory for global health care services.”
Audax will operate as a freestanding investment of Optum, serving multiple independent market channels, led by its founder and CEO Grant Verstandig and President and COO David Ko.
About Optum
Optum is a leading information and
technology-enabled health services business dedicated to helping make
the health system work better for everyone. With more than 50,000 people
worldwide, Optum delivers intelligent, integrated solutions that help to
modernize the health system and improve overall population health. Optum
is part of the UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH).
About Audax
Founded in 2010, Audax believes that consumers
can and should be active participants in managing their own health.
Audax has and will continue to enjoy the support and investment from a
diverse and prestigious Board including John Sculley, former CEO of
Apple, Jack Rowe, former CEO of Aetna, Dr. Richard Klausner, Chief
Medical Officer at Illumina and David Ko, former COO of Zynga and
President and COO of Audax. For more information, please visit www.audaxhealth.com.
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