More than 153 million Americans receive employee-sponsored healthcare benefits, according to the nonprofit KFF — and one startup just raised a large seed round on a bet that AI can help employers and employees get more bang for their buck.
Digital health benefits startup Fijoya just came out of stealth and announced an $8.3 million seed round from Team8, the Israeli venture group that creates startups and invests in existing ones across the cyber, data infrastructure, fintech, digital health, and AI industries. Fijoya’s funding round came from Team8’s new $500 million fund.
Based in Israel, Fijoya’s mission is to help individuals find and pay for the health services they need. The startup partners with employers to offer access to the app-based marketplace to their employees, who can search for specific health and wellness benefits to purchase via employer-funded healthcare plans.
Fijoya offers access to thousands of wellness benefits on its marketplace, including family planning, women’s health, mental health, nutrition, and sleep specialists, and the startup touts an easy-to-use platform that removes the administrative burden of offering employee benefits, including enrollment and reimbursements while giving employees more control to choose benefits that are relevant for them.
Fijoy’s big draw is that it uses AI to recommend relevant options to users, explained Baruch Levy, the startup’s CEO.
“The advancements in AI technology in recent years have enabled us to pack our recommendation engine with thousands of services and products that deliver highly personalized, precise, and unbiased recommendations to users,” he told Business Insider.
As Americans are spending more than ever on healthcare, Fijoya is one of many healthtech startups cropping up to tackle the financial aspects of healthcare. Startups like Ease, Soda Health, and Elevate are also working to overhaul the employee benefits space and have raised millions from investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greycroft, and Norwest Venture Partners.
Now, out of stealth, Fijoya is focusing on giving employees an easier way to choose healthcare benefits that best suit their lifestyles. The startup also plans to integrate health plan data into its AI algorithm to provide better wellness benefit recommendations and working to provide more payment options, Levy said.
“The Fijoya app gives employees an eCommerce-like experience to shop for health services and products, with embedded virtual corporate cards that eliminate the need for receipts or reimbursements,” he said. “This end-to-end approach signifies our commitment to simplify health benefits by offering a wide range of options with a seamless discovery, selection, and payment process.'”
Check out the 15-slide pitch deck Fijoya used to raise its seed funding round.
