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BFD Expert Voices - Health Tech Deals

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Caregiver-focused Family First acquired Cooper Parenting's assets to bolster its family leave program, CEO Evan Falchuk tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: A family with one preschool child might spend up to 41% of their income on care.

How it works: Leveraging machine-learning capabilities, Boston-based Family First partners with employers and insurers to help caregivers juggle work and caring for loved ones.

Users have access to an expert care team comprising nurses, social workers, mental health professionals and physicians.

The care teams analyze clinical data, alongside social determinants of health, to identify gaps in care and to establish appropriate care plans.

Cooper Parenting provides expert parenting education and strategies for parents of young children through young adults. Its content will be added to Family First's care library.

Zoom in: Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Family First projects it will generate nearly $30 million in revenue by next year.

Family First will continue to look at inorganic growth opportunities, Falchuk tells Axios.

"This deal was so attractive to us because of how much it strengthens our offering," Falchuk says. "The content, strategies, and tools will be so impactful for the parents we serve and the companies where they work."

By the numbers: Family First claims it has reduced employee absence rates by 22%, including an almost 10% reduction in employees leaving the workforce due to caregiving needs.

There are so many businesses that have been created and funded over the last several years that do cool stuff that just might be too narrow to persist as a standalone business," Falchuk says.

"We're seeing a lot of activity just from an organic growth perspective, but ... there's a tremendous opportunity to be aggressive and make things happen."

Family First buys Cooper Parenting assets

Illustration of an origami heart made from paper money.

When, a Chicago-based benefits transition startup, raised a $4.6 million seed, CEO Andy Hamilton tells Axios exclusively.

Why it's the BFD: Health care costs continues to rise, and Cobra participants' insurance coverage is 300% more expensive than those of active employees.

Zoom in: The round was led by B Capital and joined by TTV Capital, Joyance Partners, Alumni Ventures, Network Ventures and Enfield Capital Partners.

The company say it's currently generating revenue and has raised $7 million to date.

How it works: When helps people find alternatives to Cobra and offers employers a benefit package that replaces Cobra subsidies in severance/retirement packages.

Founded in 2020, the company offers personalized health insurance recommendations and financial assistance for premiums. Employers pay for When only if an employee involuntarily leaves their organization.

It has partnerships with Healthcare.gov and Covered California, as well as Medicare and private providers.

When also helps streamline 401(k) rollovers and provides career coaching and résumé building.

What's next: Funds will go toward further development of AI capabilities for When's health insurance assistant, Jamie.

"I think we're in a sweet spot where everybody knows health insurance is a challenge for employers and this gives us two years of runway," Hamilton says.

By the numbers: Reductions in company headcount impact hundreds of thousands of Americans each year.

U.S.-based employers planned 721,677 job cuts in 2023, a 98% increase from 2022. With the exception of 2020, layoffs in 2023 reached the highest annual total since 2009, according to The Challenger Report.

Costs rose 7% last year for employer health-based plans and has jumped 22% over the last five years.

What they're saying: "Employee offboarding has been a largely overlooked piece of the employment journey to date," says B Capital principal Patrick Harmon.

"Cobra enrollment processes have largely remained unchanged for decades," he adds.

State of play: Kept.io and ThrivePass are two Cobra administrators who offer additional non-Cobra plans via third-party partners.

Kept.io raised $360,000 from undisclosed investors in October 2023, per PitchBook.

ThrivePass raised $2.5 million of seed funding from undisclosed investors in May 2021 and have raised a total of $5.96 million, per PitchBook.

🐍 1 fun thing: The company was first called Cobra Select but was renamed to When as a reference to the stressful "when moments" in someone's life.

When raises $4.6M for benefits transition

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Want more health tech deals? Check out the Axios Pro Deals Tracker.

•Healx, a U.K. company using AI to find drugs for rare diseases, raised $47m in a Series C round co-led by Atomico and R42. Go deeper

• Acculi Labs, a Bengaluru-based health insight company, raised $1.5m in seed funding led by Sabi Holding India. Go deeper

• WellSpring Consumer Healthcare, an Avista Healthcare Partners-backed Sarasota OTC drug and personal care provider, acquired vH essentials, a Jackson, Wis., suite of OTC products for women's intimacy care from Wisconsin Pharmacal Co. Go deeper

• Vital Care, a Brentwood, Tenn., infusion therapy pharmacy network, closed an investment from Berkshire Partners and Leonard Green & Partners. Existing investor Linden Capital remains a backer. Go deeper

• AmeriPro Health, a Whistler Capital Partners-backed Atlanta patient logistics and last-mile healthcare delivery services provider, acquired patient transport provider Rapid Response EMS of Michigan. Go deeper

•Medline, a Northfield, Ill., medical supply provider backed by Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman, closed its acquisition of sustainable technology company Ecolab's (NYSE:ECL) global surgical solutions business for about $950m in cash. Go deeper

• Milliman, a Seattle-based consulting and actuarial firm, acquired Pluritem Health, an Asheville, N.C.-based clinical data platform. Go deeper

Deals o' the day

• Graham Barnes, former chairman of Andgo Systems, joined Medically Home as CEO. He replaces Rami Karjian, who will step into an adviser role. Go deeper

• Doug Garis was named EVP and CFO at MultiPlan Corp., succeeding Jim Head. Go deeper

• Anurag Maheshwari, a former Otis Worldwide executive, was named CFO at 3M Co., succeeding Monish Patolawala. Go deeper

• Antonio Silveira, former CTO at Nextdoor, joined Attentive as CTO. Go deeper

• Glenn Wada, former chief commercial officer at Cue Health, joined Iris Telehealth as chief growth officer. Go deeper

• Tim Hwang, formerly with Inflection AI, Substack and Google, joined Abridge as general counsel. Go deeper

• Ryan Chuang, former VP at Ares Management, joined Diversis Capital as VP. Go deeper 

• Chris Gerard, former CEO of Amedisys, joined VitalCaring's board of directors. Go deeper

It's Personnel

🍦 Scoop: Thune says 340B bill coming this week — Axios

🏥 Hospital assets before and after PE acquisition — JAMA

💸 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki offers to take company private — Bloomberg

🔎 Wells Fargo-Express Scripts relationship under scrutiny — Fierce Healthcare

🛑 Steward Health fiasco could have been prevented — Bloomberg

✅ Senate Approps approves Labor-HHS bill — Axios 

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1 big thing: Family First buys Cooper Parenting assets

2. The BFD: When raises $4.6M for benefits transition

3. Deals o' the day

4. It's Personnel

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August 01, 2024

1 big thing: Family First buys Cooper Parenting assets