Global tech behemoth Alphabet Inc. has reportedly invested USD 375 million in the tech-based healthcare insurance startup, Oscar Health. Apparently, the company aims to bring forth breakthroughs in the medical insurance industry deploying Alphabet’s big data resources.
As per reliable sources, the round included investment from Alphabet’s research organization, Verily Life Science, that is keenly focused on developing technology based applications for detecting, preventing and managing various diseases. In addition, Google has also reportedly invested in the startup through its venture capital fund, Capital G.
According to Bloomberg, Oscar plans on using this investment to enter Medicare Advantage – the market for privately administered senior health insurance schemes by 2020, in a bid to serve a growing geriatric population base. The company has also announced plans to appoint former YouTube CEO, Salar Kamangar in their team.
Reportedly, Oscar had raised almost USD 900 million prior to the investment by Google’s parent company Alphabet, amounting to a total valuation of USD 3.2 billion. Further that company stated that so far, it has no other plans in the offing to collaborate with similar companies in the future.
Oscar Health for the record, was co-founded by Joshua Kushner in 2012, and had reportedly been selling its healthcare plans under the Affordable Care Act, since 2013. As per sources, the company had about 240,000 members this years and plans to extend its reach in new markets by 2019.
According to an official statement by Schlosser, Oscar’s CEO, the company plans on investing heavily in big data, and aims on making healthcare more affordable and efficient. In addition, it also plans to use Alphabet’s funding to hire more skilled engineers, product designers, clinicians and data scientists in its team.
The company’s internal operations with regards to health management are rather technology-centric, and Oscar now plans to take it several steps further, Schlosser added.