Startup HealthJoy is focused on making health benefits easier to navigate for employees while also reducing administrative burdens for human resources departments.
The company snagged $60 million in series D funding led by Valspring Capital. New investors Endeavour Vision and CIBC Innovation Banking also participated in the round along with existing investors US Venture Partners, GoHealth co-founders Brandon Cruz and Clint Jones, Health Velocity Capital, Nueterra Capital and Epic.
The Chicago-based company, which designed its app to function as a single front door to employee benefits and care, plans to use the fresh capital to accelerate growth, executives said.
"We're going to continue to invest in our differentiation and innovation," Justin Holland, CEO and co-founder at HealthJoy, said in an interview.
Launched in 2014, HealthJoy has raised $108 million to date.
HealthJoy is among a new crop of startups focused on helping consumers gain easier access to the care they need, from finding the right doctors to getting second opinions, to managing health plan complexities. Its platform is designed to make it easier for employees to use their healthcare benefits, with features including an AI-based virtual assistant.
The company provides healthcare benefits navigation to over 1,000 U.S. employers, supporting the management and delivery of world-class healthcare benefits to nearly 500,000 employees and dependents.
The company aims to create a connected experience that takes the confusion and complexity out of healthcare while reducing the ever-growing administrative burden faced by HR leaders, Holland said.
HealthJoy says it works across employers' entire benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, savings accounts, clinics and wellness initiatives.
"As we enter 2023, employers will continue to be challenged to add new point solutions," Holland said, noting that HealthJoy is focused on supporting employers as the battle for workforce talent is intensifying. Employers find themselves under immense pressure to deliver benefits that provide increased value, attract talent and satisfy existing employees while balancing rising costs and decreased resources, according to executives.
HealthJoy has expanded its virtual care tools including a partnership with Teladoc Health to provide integrated access to general medical care, primary care, chronic condition management and mental health.
In 2021, the company acquired Rekinetics, a company that ties neurology to exercise therapy to ease the suffering caused by musculoskeletal issues that affect 126.6 million Americans. HealthJoy then launched a virtual exercise therapy program and executives noted at the time that the connection between neurological science and rehab could be a difference maker in a hot market in which millions of dollars have recently been invested.
"MSK is a relatively large open market in the mid-market," Holland said. "We saw it as a good opportunity to not only learn for ourselves to bring in some of these other vendors in the mid-market but also to basically take advantage of the fact that there's really a wide open, greenfield opportunity. And we believe we're the only ones thinking about it from a brain-body connection."
As the employer benefits space becomes more complex, HealthJoy is focused on building its technology and services to make it easier for HR departments and brokers to deliver on their health plan strategies.
Valspring Capital decided to invest in HealthJoy because the company is tackling a major issue: a serious lack of benefits awareness that leads to under-utilization by employees.
"Offering a solution that simplifies benefits is a key differentiator in the talent war the market currently finds itself in. We look forward to amplifying HealthJoy's solutions as we've seen the value they bring firsthand," said Aneesha Mehta, co-founder of Valspring Capital and former Partner at Bain Capital Ventures, in a statement.