Soda Health gets $25 million to simplify benefits

Benefits-matching startup Soda Health of Bentonville raised $25 million in Series A funding, CEO Robby Knight exclusively tells Axios Pro's Health Tech author Erin Brodwin.

Why it matters: Medicare Advantage is an increasingly competitive market, with plans amplifying supplemental benefits to edge out would-be rivals.

How it works: Knight, the former head of consumer health innovation at Walmart, says Soda straddles retail, finance and health care in an effort to simplify supplemental benefits.

• Benefits are often difficult to locate — not to mention use — and typically arrive in a combination of mail-order, online and in-person formats.

Yes, and: Soda matches people with what Knight calls "personalized" benefits, then provides them with a single prepaid debit card to use at participating retailers.

• The company is currently focused on the Medicare Advantage and Medicaid markets, where it faces fewer rivals, but also has an expanding presence in the employer sector.

What's next: Knight says the company is on track to serve half a million people in the next 12 months.

• Soda aims to build up its presence in the employer sector and offer its services to nonprofits next.

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