Digital health care company Icario has acquired ChipRewards, a software firm that helps health plans and employers manage their consumer-engagement programs. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Twin Cities-based Icario, which was formed in 2020 after the merger of Novu Inc. and Revel Health, makes white-label digital consumer-engagement tools for health care organizations. That can mean anything from designing campaigns to promote annual check-ups to encouraging healthier behaviors in patients, like taking their medication each day.
Birmingham, Ala.-based ChipRewards helps run wellness incentive programs and has more than 50 employees. It was founded in 2007 and works with national payers and some Blue Cross and Blue Shield programs. The ChipRewards brand will survive the acquisition, Icario CEO Steve Wigginton said.
"We will build around the team in Birmingham as well," he said.
The ChipRewards acquisition will give Icario's clients a greater degree of customization and self-service for their engagement platforms, Wigginton said.
"We look forward to the dual win of helping Icario customers benefit from our existing capabilities while also opening up the vast benefits of the Icario platform to our current customer base," said ChipRewards co-founder Trey Hamer in a statement. Hamer will take on the title of Icario's president for ChipRewards.
TripleTree and Fredrikson & Byron advised Icario on the acquisition.
In May, private equity firm CVC Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in Icario for an undisclosed amount. Wigginton said other investors still owned their stakes in Icario, too. CVC Capital usually invests in companies with an enterprise value of at least $240 million, according to its website.
Minneapolis- and St. Louis Park-based Icario has over 300 employees, including the ChipRewards acquisition, and serves over 50 insurance companies, including seven of the largest 10. Millions of health plan members have used its technology.
