Zing Health, a Chicago-based company offering Medicare Advantage HMO plans to underserved seniors in Cook County, landed investment from New York-based Newlight Partners.
The exact amount wasn’t disclosed, but Newlight Partner Srdjan Vukovic said in a statement that the firm anticipates investing up to $150 million in Zing.
Founded last year by Eric Whitaker and Ken Alleyne, and launched out of the innovation lab at the American Medical Association, Zing Health aims to provide a health insurance option to people 65 and over that are typically underserved by traditional insurance models. The plan is available to those eligible for Medicare, covers most Medicare services and provides members with coverage for services that aren’t covered by traditional Medicare, like vision, hearing and dental.
“Newlight shares our goal of building a focused and differentiated health insurance company aligned with the fundamental trends that are transforming the healthcare ecosystem,” Whitaker said in a statement.
Whitaker previously served as the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health and he also founded healthcare investment firm TWG Partners.
Newlight is a spinout from Soros Fund Management, an investment group founded by billionaire and investor George Soros, who is also a large donor to the democratic party. Newlight officially spun out of the Soros Fund in 2018, but has invested approximately $6 billion in over 100 investments since 2005.
“Zing Health is a doctor-founded, mission-driven health plan focused on serving vulnerable populations who rely heavily on Medicare,” Vukovic said. “Amid the current Covid-19 pandemic environment, where seniors find themselves most at risk, Zing Health’s mission is more important than ever.”
Zing Health is just one of several venture-backed insurance upstarts in Chicago. Last year, several local players, such as Kin Insurance, Convr, Snapsheet and Clearcover, all raised funding.
