Nova Benefits scoops up USD 10 mn in series A funding round

Nova Benefits, an employee wellness platform focused on corporate health insurance, on Thursday said it has secured USD 10 million (about Rs 73.7 crore) in funding, led by Susquehanna International Group (SIG) and Bessemer Venture Partners. Existing investors, which include Multiply Ventures, Better Capital and Titan Capital have also participated in this series A round, a statement said.

The company plans to use the funding to expand its engineering, product management, sales and customer success teams to build a larger stack of wellness offerings on their platform, it added. Founded in 2020, Nova’s tech platform helps companies improve employee well-being through health insurance, daily fitness, mental health counselling and wellness programmes. Its wellness programs help enterprises increase coverage while simultaneously bending cost curves. Historically, employee health insurance and wellness has just been a checkbox item for corporations but the pandemic has changed that, Nova Benefits co-founder and CEO Saransh Garg said.

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“Nova’s platform empowers progressive employers to provide personalised care for their team members which ultimately drives employee happiness and retention. We’re excited to be on a path to improve the well-being of 10 million Indians by 2025,” he added. Nova helps employees access their wellness benefits on a single platform and increase their insurance coverage as needed, while helping HR save time by automating manual workflows.

Nova said it saw a surge in clients amidst the pandemic, witnessing over 10x growth in a span of one year. Since its inception, the company has onboarded over 150 clients including companies like Dream 11, CoinDCX, Snapdeal, Zenoti, Yulu Bikes with over one lakh users on the platform. It also has a direct insurance broking license from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) which allows the company to provide businesses with the best combination of insurers and coverages.

We believe employee wellness is a nascent, under-penetrated but rapidly growing and evolving industry in India and technology will play a critical role in accelerating this growth,” Anant Vidur Puri, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, said. According to a report by Redseer, the corporate health and wellness market in India is valued at about USD 7 billion currently and is expected to reach a value of about USD 18 billion by 2025 driven by an increased focus on wellness by employers in a post-pandemic world.