Beanstalk Advantages, a startup that permits workers to construct their very own well being advantages, launched Thursday with $7.5 million in funding. The startup was constructed at Redesign Well being, a healthcare innovation firm.
Philadelphia-based Beanstalk Advantages vets advantages options and aggregates them right into a single platform. A few of these options embody BeMe Well being for teen psychological well being, Upswing Well being for joint and muscle ache, Vitalxchange for parenting help and Sober Sidekick for sobriety help. Staff can construct their very own advantages portfolio and pay for these advantages utilizing their employer-sponsored insurance coverage or private accounts. They’ll additionally change their portfolio at any time as their healthcare wants evolve.
“We now have 5 generations within the workforce,” mentioned Matthew Sydney, CEO of Beanstalk, in an interview. “We’ve by no means been able the place we’ve had a lot variety within the workforce and the wants are so totally different. And so once we checked out what’s lacking from the system … there’s no platform and there’s no infrastructure … that places the worker within the driver’s seat.”
Beanstalk Advantages helps out the employer too, Sydney mentioned. As an alternative of getting to individually contract with a number of totally different level options, employers can simply contract with Beanstalk with the intention to provide entry to a number of options. The corporate works with each fully-insured and self-insured employers, and the employers pay one annual price.
“We discover that there’s an enormous want within the small and mid-market enterprise,” Sydney mentioned. “There appears to be a robust want as a result of they’re getting squeezed and don’t all the time have the cash or extra importantly, the assets to evaluate and contract and administer these applications.”
For the options on Beanstalk’s platform, Beanstalk expands their attain to extra individuals.
“Beanstalk has basically given us entry to a retail market via a single contract that would probably attain thousands and thousands of workers,” mentioned Dr. Steven Schutzer, co-founder and chief medical officer of Upswing Well being, in a information launch.
The corporate’s $7.5 million in seed funding helped develop Beanstalk’s platform. The rest of the funding will assist with “distribution and account administration,” Sydney mentioned.
Beanstalk’s launch comes at a time when many employers are battling level answer fatigue and are struggling to handle a number of distributors without delay. Many are turning to navigation firms like Accolade and Quantum Well being, which additionally mixture a number of options onto one platform. Nevertheless, Beanstalk differs by permitting the staff to construct their very own advantages portfolio, Sydney mentioned. He added that he sees firms like Accolade and Quantum Well being as potential collaborators to additional improve their marketplaces.
Finally, Sydney mentioned he goals to extend entry to care
“We wish to actually bridge numerous the gaps, whether or not these are medical deserts the place individuals have a tough time receiving care … or there is perhaps a cultural concern that we may help service,” he mentioned. “We would like individuals to essentially worth the companies they get via their employer as a result of it’s actually a part of their complete rewards.”
Picture: Feodora Chiosea, Getty Photographs