Buffalo is the nerve center of Centivo. It was just a matter of making it official.
The rising health-tech startup founded by Ashok Subramanian has named Buffalo as its new corporate headquarters.
Centivo first called Manhattan its headquarters and then Connecticut, and Subramanian emphasized the firm has critical teams in different locations throughout the U.S.
“But to the extent that future milestones and developments of the company are positive ones, we felt the location to mark as the heart of the company should be Buffalo,” he said.
Centivo has a growing hub on Cayuga Drive in Cheektowaga, where about 44 of its 136 employees now work. In August, it will open an office in the UB Gateway building on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, in partnership with University at Buffalo’s Institute for Genomics. Centivo is also working with Houghton College, Say Yes to Buffalo, Canisius College’s New Buffalo Institute and Erie County Community College on a workforce program that helps underemployed workers start careers in tech-enabled claims and customer service roles.
Subramanian will remain a resident of New York City, but the decision is another notch on his business legacy in Buffalo. The Western New York native earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a master’s in business from Stanford University and went on to found Liazon Corp. in 2007. That firm was acquired for $215 million in 2013 by the firm that would become Willis Towers Watson. About 250 people still work at the office in downtown Buffalo.
Subramanian founded Centivo in 2016 as a data-based health insurance plan that seeks to lower costs and improve care. The firm is now focused on building partnerships across the U.S., fueled by nearly $70 million in venture capital it has raised the past few years.
“I’m pleased with the results” of the company’s recent traction, Subramanian said. “Our investors are very happy and we are seeing a lot of growth, as you can see by looking at our careers page.”
Three top Centivo employees now lead the Buffalo office, including head of operations Paul Wann, chief people officer Stephanie Argentine and finance chief Tina Passariella. Subramanian said that Centivo will seek to grow in multiple locations going forward, but that top-level hires will be made with the idea of them working in Buffalo.
Tech-enabled insurance companies occupy a white hot place within the broader world of startups, and many of Centivo’s peers are raising large sums of capital or successfully going public. It’s too soon to talk about the company’s eventual exit, but Centivo immediately becomes one of the most exciting growth-stage tech firms headquartered in the region.
“We expect 50-75% of our hiring to be in Western New York going forward,” Subramanian said. “So it made sense if we’re going to have a headquarters, the administrative drivers of the business should be in Buffalo.”
