NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BeneStream today announced additional investment from BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners and Sandbox Advantage Fund, closing out its Series A Round of financing. BeneStream is a health technology company that connects qualified employees to government health benefits through its signature product, Medicaid Migration™. The process helps workers access affordable, quality health coverage and other benefits. The company raised a total of $2 million from BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners and Sandbox Advantage Fund, bringing the total Series A round to $6.26 million.
“This investment by BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners and Sandbox Advantage Fund demonstrates that health insurance companies understand the importance of Medicaid enrollment as a strategy for managing the overall cost of health insurance for businesses while increasing employee access to health benefits,” said Ben Geyerhahn, CEO and Co-Founder. “We look forward to working with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners and its limited partners to support our efforts to seek distribution at national scale.”
BeneStream’s process informs employees if they qualify for government sponsored health insurance and is proven to deliver cost savings as a component of a health insurance package for qualified companies. The process utilizes the Medicaid expansion portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which makes access to healthcare coverage more affordable for many employees and their families who weren’t previously eligible.
"I am excited to join BeneStream's board as the team is addressing a key piece of the benefits puzzle. The company is emerging as a market leader at informing employees of the benefits to which they are qualified. BeneStream is also well positioned to capitalize on opportunities that emerge from further expansion of Medicaid and the proliferation of Managed Medicaid," said Anna Haghgooie, Managing Director of Sandbox Industries, who will represent BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners on the Board.
The round was lead by Michael Sachs, who is now Chairman of BeneStream’s Board, and his firm TLSG Investments, LLC. Haghgooie joins other existing board members Julius Mokrauer and Kevin Hill. Mokrauer is an investment manager for Serious Change Investments LP, which led BeneStream’s Seed investment round. Hill is a former EVP of Oxford Health Plans and CEO of United Healthcare’s Northeast Division. He has served as an advisor, board member, or chairman of several VC-backed entities including Liazon, HealthPlanOne, Symbiosis Health, Picwell and CheckPointHR.
Other Series A investors include Kapor Capital and Relativity Healthcare Partners as well as seed investors Serious Change, LP, Kevin Hill, Martin Babinec, ARC Angel and George V. Duczak.
A complete list of BeneStream’s board members can be found at http://benestream.com/about/.
ABOUT BENESTREAM—The Medicaid Migration Company™
BeneStream provides businesses with innovative, cost-saving products and services by connecting their qualified employees to government benefits. The company's exclusive product, Medicaid Migration™, informs employees if they qualify for government-sponsored health insurance. BeneStream’s health insurance broker partner network includes more than half of the nation’s leading brokerages. Additionally, BeneStream is partners with a growing list of the nation’s leading processors of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC).
BeneStream’s founders launched the business with a grant from the Ford Foundation and with support from Stax Inc.’s Dev Co. With this support the company developed its value proposition and core business model in time to meet the demand created by full implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
Watch BeneStream’s Explainer Video.
ABOUT BLUECROSS BLUESHIELD VENTURE PARTNERS
BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, L.P. is a corporate venture fund licensed by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. The fund invests in promising emerging companies of strategic relevance to Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans. Sandbox Industries is the exclusive provider of investment management services to BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners. For more information, please visit www.bcbsvp.com.
