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When you’ve got big names like Glen Tullman, Lee Shapiro, Eric Lefkofsky, and Brad Keywell on your founder’s roster, odds are you’ve got a good thing going.
That’s the case for Zest Health, a mobile health company empowering consumers to make smart and informed decisions about their health care. Founded in 2013, the Chicago startup has announced a successful (and oversubscribed) $6 million Series A, bringing its funding total to just around $9 million.
“We are particularly excited to announce our Series A financing for a couple of different reasons. Not only will it help to accelerate our product and engineering growth, but it will also help expand our market presence,” said Jonathan Ozeran, VP of Product at Zest Health.
The round saw participation from 7wire Ventures, Lightbank, Zaffre Investments, Martin Ventures, Dallas Venture Partners, and LSAN/Azimuth Ventures.
“[The new round of funding] gives us a larger set of really fantastic investors who are deeply involved in both healthcare and consumer technology,” said Ozeran. “There really hasn’t been a combination of these types of investors that often who can come to the table with a unique perspective. They want to transform the industry.”
Zest Health’s Smart Concierge is a mobile app that helps consumers navigate today’s complex web of healthcare options in a way that’s both cost-effective and informative. Smart Concierge is sold to employers, health systems, and health plans, including customers like Chicago’s Presence Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island.
From helping members understand costs they might incur to showing them how to maximize their benefits or simplify the scheduling process, Ozeran said Zest’s platform is a human-centric, one-stop-shop for “demystifying healthcare.”
And it’s not just employees who are reaping the benefits of Zest Health’s services.
“Employers and partners want to maximize the benefits that they’re offering,” Ozeran said. “They have tremendous talent pools that they’re working with, and they spend a non-trivial amount of money dedicated to their healthcare. And the tools that they’re providing are inadequate for the most part. They haven’t evolved over the years as other industries have. Our premise it to amplify the benefit offerings you already have.”
Zest Health’s team currently sits at 25, and they’re hiring fast. Ozeran said Zest’s emphasis on their product and engineering culture makes them a competitive option for engineers looking to make positive change in the healthcare industry — an industry in desperate need of auspicious disruption.
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