AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sana Benefits, the provider of self-funded health insurance for small businesses, today announced the closing of $20.8 million in Series A funding led by Gigafund. Additional investors in the round include Trust Ventures and mark vc.

Sana Benefits intends to use the funding to scale customer acquisition and provide better benefits at low cost to the nation’s six million employers. The ultimate goal is to save the 50% of Americans who rely on employer benefits from price gouging by the ‘Big 5’ insurance companies (United Healthcare, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna and Humana). These carriers enjoy monopolies in many markets, resulting in higher healthcare costs for consumers.

“Our vision has always been to replace the current broken healthcare system with one that is incentivized to deliver better outcomes at lower costs,” said CEO and co-founder Will Young. “We’ve seen our current offering start to do just that for small businesses in the Texas market. This capital enables us to quickly bring that offering to even more employers, in turn allowing us to make the product even better.”

Membership Up 10X; Expanding to More States

Sana Benefits’ membership has grown 10X in the past year, indicating a strong demand for its self-funded plans and fair-market insurance pricing. Currently available in Texas and Kentucky, Sana Benefits will expand into additional markets by 2021. Sana Benefits plans abolish healthcare network restrictions and out-of-network fees, and include health, vision, dental, free telemedicine, maternity care, a ClassPass for fitness classes and more. For the small businesses that employ nearly 60 million members of the U.S. workforce, Sana Benefits will not only provide affordable, easy to use insurance but drive healthcare improvements nationwide.

Investor Perspectives on the Series A Funding Round

“Sana’s disruptive model for health insurance empowers small businesses to both cut costs and improve employee benefits,” said Stephen Oskoui, Managing Partner of Gigafund. “We believe that only a win-win solution like Sana can make a real dent in the healthcare crisis.”

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy,” said Salen Churi, General Partner of Trust Ventures. “They are the bedrock on which innovation, hiring and new jobs rest. By cutting small businesses’ most pernicious and unreasonable expenses, Sana Benefits is not only helping to fix healthcare but enabling the economy to get back on its feet.”

To learn more, visit SanaBenefits.com.

About Sana Benefits

Sana Benefits brings self-funded plans and fair-market healthcare pricing to the nation’s 28 million small businesses. A comprehensive benefits provider that transcends the network model, Sana Benefits reduces health insurance rates and bolsters benefits. The platform covers health, vision, dental, telemedicine and maternity, in addition to benefits like ClassPass. Sana Benefits is based in Austin, Texas, with coverage in Texas and Kentucky and expanding to new states every year. Visit us at SanaBenefits.com.

About Gigafund

Gigafund is a venture capital firm backing the world's most ambitious and transformative entrepreneurs. Gigafund was founded by former Founders Fund partners Luke Nosek and Stephen Oskoui and has $440m in assets under management. Gigafund’s largest investments include SpaceX, Lambda School, Luminous Computing, the Boring Company, and Sana Benefits. More information can be found at Gigafund.com.