An Austin-based health insurance startup is planning to hire dozens and open a health clinic in Austin on the heels of raising a new round of venture funding.
Sana Benefits Inc. said Oct. 26 it has secured $20 million in an extension of its series A funding round. The investment was led by Austin's Gigafund. Other firms supplying fresh capital included American Family Ventures, Breyer Capital, JAM Fund and Harmon Brothers Ad Ventures.
This brings Sana's total funding to $47 million since its founding in 2017 by Will Young and Nathan Hackley.
With the new funding, the startup is looking to extend into new markets and grow in the states where it already offers its insurance plans: Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, Illinois and Kentucky.
Sana, along with other new competitors in the market, helps small businesses that want to save money on employee health care plans by self-funding their programs and customizing offerings based on their needs. It's an alternative to the pre-packaged plans offered by many of the largest health insurance companies in the country.
The startup, which relocated its headquarters from San Francisco to Austin in 2018, has also expanded into advanced primary care by partnering with primary care provider Proactive MD to open a health center in Austin. That would give some of Sana's customers free primary care without copays here in town.
The forthcoming 5,100-square-foot clinic at 1715 W. 35th St. will offer family medicine, urgent care, an in-house pharmacy, labs, smoking cessation and other services. In addition to clinic visits, it will also provide video appointments. The partnership with Proactive MD, called Sana MD, was announced in June.
Sana, which raised $20 million in September 2020, has grown significantly throughout 2020 and 2021. Last year, it grew from 40 to 98 employees. Its headcount is now 129, with about 50 of them being based in Austin.
Executives plan to grow to about 150 employees by the end of the year. Sana currently has 13 job openings posted on its website, including roles in sales, operations, engineering and finance.
