BROOKLYN, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zipari, the first and only consumer experience platform built specifically for health insurance, has raised $22.5 million in a Series B funding round. Vertical Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in enterprise technology companies that target vertical markets, led the financing round, which included Health Velocity Capital, an investor in healthcare software and service innovators, Healthworx, the healthcare investment and innovation arm of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, and Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. (Horizon), New Jersey’s oldest and largest health insurer.
The proceeds will be used to widen distribution channels, expand partner integrations, and scale the development of Zipari’s highly configurable product lines with focused investments in strategic innovations.
“We’re proud to have completed our Series B round, which will allow us to build on the momentum we’ve experienced over the past five years,” said Mark Nathan, CEO and Founder of Zipari. “Driven by demand for a solution that provides personalized member engagement for health insurance, and for a return on investment that maximizes the value of members using next-best actions to improve health and reduce operational expenses, Zipari now serves 18 health insurance carriers; more than 13 million members using Zipari products.”
“CareFirst selected Zipari to help the organization transform and improve the healthcare experience for its members,” said Ricardo Johnson, Vice President of Healthworx. “It’s a platform that has already demonstrated success in the health insurance space and this investment fits with the desire to support innovation that improves the healthcare experience for consumers.”
Today, customer experience transformation is one of the most critical topics in the boardroom at health insurance companies, with its success relying heavily on the seamless integration of customer data from multiple payer systems and the rapid implementation of the latest technology. Zipari supports these initiatives and empowers payers with the most effective platform for delivering engaging and superior customer experience.
“Customer expectations in the health insurance market are changing and we need to be greater advocates for our members,” said Douglas E. Blackwell, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. “One way we can provide better service to them is by integrating all of our systems, including customer relationship management tools, sales and broker tools, and individual member goals. Zipari provides a platform where health plans can integrate all that data and leverage it across different channels. We are excited about taking control of that data and using Zipari to leverage it to provide our members with high-value next-best actions to improve health care outcomes.”
In May, Zipari launched CX Engagement Hub, which provides payers with two key capabilities: (1) to attach a value to their cross-departmental goals for each member; and (2) to intelligently orchestrate and prioritize engagement via a consumer’s preferred communication channel. And in the past year, Zipari launched its Partner Network, which is aimed at helping health plans accelerate delivery of integrated customer experience (CX) and provide a certified portfolio of CX solutions. Both the CX Engagement Hub and the Partner Network will allow health plans to gain better insight into health plan member needs, sentiment, and behavior.
David Schwab, Founder and Managing Director of Vertical Venture Partners, added, “In my experience, the tech startups that sell into specific vertical industries, such as healthcare or health insurance, are better at solving the considerable challenges facing their respective industry. Zipari’s product portfolio streamlines the health plans internal processes, which ultimately frees up resources to enable better, more personalized customer experience and care.”
“Too much of healthcare still relies on the telephone when increasingly individuals want to interact digitally. Zipari enables health plans to offer a digital solution to its members, providers, and brokers with a common underlying database that creates a seamless, more cost effective, and consumer-friendly experience. As investors with a passion for making our healthcare system more consumer friendly and cost effective, we are excited to be investing in Zipari’s growth,” stated Health Velocity Capital Partner, Saurabh Bhansali.
About Zipari
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Zipari is a technology startup that develops products for health insurance carriers to engage with consumers in new and innovative ways. With unsurpassed technology, Zipari’s products provide real-time insights at every touchpoint, delivering a breakthrough consumer experience that health insurers want and their members seek. Zipari now serves more than 13 million members via their payer customers. Zipari’s primary investor is Vertical Venture Partners, a venture capital firm focused on investments in companies that target specific vertical markets. For more information about Zipari, please visit www.zipari.com.
About Vertical Venture Partners
Vertical Venture Partners (VVP) is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm founded in 2015 by Dave Schwab, a 20-year veteran in early-stage technology investing. VVP focuses on making Seed and Series A investments in B2B technology companies targeting pain points in specific vertical sectors as opposed to those providing horizontal technologies to many industry sectors.
The VVP team has decades of operating and investment experience gained from diverse backgrounds in venture capital, research & development, investment banking and advanced technology. Please visit www.vvp.vc to learn more.
About Health Velocity Capital
Health Velocity Capital invests exclusively in innovative healthcare software and services companies. The firm’s partners have more than 50 collective years as investors, entrepreneurs and senior executives helping to build innovative companies that created important new healthcare markets and/or that became market leaders. In addition to investing on behalf of institutional investors, Health Velocity invests on behalf of a number of our nation’s largest and most influential healthcare organizations and many of their top executives who collectively represent organizations that provide health insurance to more than 140 million Americans, operate nearly 400 hospitals, provide pharmacy and PBM services to most Americans, and provide software and services to every major hospital in the United States. For more information, please visit www.healthvelocitycapital.com.
About Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc.
Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc., New Jersey’s oldest and largest health insurer, is a tax-paying, not-for-profit health services corporation, providing a wide array of medical, dental, vision and prescription insurance products and services. Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. serves 3.4 million members with headquarters in Newark and offices in Wall, Mt. Laurel, and Hopewell. Learn more at www.HorizonBlue.com.
About Healthworx
Founded in 2017, Healthworx is the innovation, corporate venture, corporate development, and commercialization arm of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. Healthworx enables CareFirst to work with pioneering healthcare companies to bring breakthrough technologies to its members and other stakeholders. Through strategic investments and partnerships, Healthworx furthers CareFirst’s mission to improve healthcare quality, increase access to care and reduce costs for its stakeholders.
