Investors add $179M more into Minneapolis health insurance company

A Minneapolis provider of health benefit plans has secured more capital from investors to expand its insurance coverage in the U.S.

Gravie, also one of the largest venture-backed companies in Minnesota, recently announced $179 million in new growth equity funding. The decade-old company will apply that to multiple areas of the business, including its online marketplace where employers choose health plans, and Gravie's own health benefits plan called Comfort, which launched in 2018.

General Atlantic, a New York-based equity firm with $72 billion in assets under management, and follow-on capital from existing investors — FirstMark Capital and AXA Venture Partners — led the late-stage funding round.

Since its founding, Gravie has secured $327 million from venture and equity investors. The latest investment should close within 30 days, subject to regulatory approval, according to a joint release from Gravie and General Atlantic.

A year ago this month, Gravie closed on $75 million for its Series E round of funding. At the time, the company had around 525 employers across the nation using Gravie for both its marketplace and Comfort products. The plan was to use the Series E to expand access to its digital marketplace.

Gravie now boasts more than 1,500 company customers nationwide.

"We are on a journey to help improve health benefits for businesses and their employees, and we are just getting started," Abir Sen, Gravie co-founder and co-chief executive, said in a statement.

Sen previously attributed some of the company's growth to the pandemic, which made healthcare top of mind for employers and their employees. He also attributed growth to the company's Comfort product that small to midsize companies use, since they typically won't have a dedicated benefits staff.