nowthe French insurance giant, has just signed a multi-faceted deal with Belpheusone of the largest banks in Belgium, which includes a distribution partnership as well as a significant financial investment in the startup.
Belfius is leading Alan’s €173 million Series F funding round (around $193 million at current exchange rates). Some of Alan’s existing investors are also participating again, including OTPP via Teachers’ Venture Growth, Temasek, Coatue, and Lakestar.
If you’re not familiar with Alain, the company originally started out as a health insurance product that complemented France’s national health care system. French companies are required to provide health insurance to all their employees when they join the company.
Alan has optimized its core product as much as possible so that the user experience is much better than that of a traditional insurance provider. For example, Alan has automated many parts of the claims management system. In some cases, you get reimbursement in your bank account just a minute after leaving the doctor’s office.
Over time, the company has added other health-related services, such as the ability to chat with doctors, order eyeglasses, and access preventive care content about mental health, back pain, and more via its mobile app. More recently, the company has turned to artificial intelligence to boost its productivity.
Earlier this year, Alan shared some metrics about the company’s performance. The company said it has more than 500,000 people covered by its insurance products, and that it can achieve profitability without raising another round of funding.
But Alan said the partnership with Belfius was a good opportunity to expand its customer base in Belgium – where the bank will offer the startup’s health insurance products to its corporate and institutional clients, which represent millions of employees.
“This exciting partnership with Belfius, whose transformation over the past decade has been truly inspiring, opens the door to a new era for Alan in Belgium,” said Jean-Charles Samuelien Werf, co-founder and CEO of Alan, in a statement. “Belfius’ investment will allow us to accelerate our development and expand our ability to offer advanced and accessible healthcare products and services to a broad audience.”
Since February, Alan has added 150,000 new customers, including the French prime minister’s office. The company expects its annual recurring revenue to reach 450 million euros (about $500 million) this year.
However, Alan’s company is not a typical SaaS company, and most of its revenue goes to fulfilling insurance claims. However, one thing is certain – the company’s growth does not appear to be slowing down.