Digital-first health insurance startup Angle Health Inc. says it’s ready to transform the healthcare industry after closing on a $58 million early-stage round of funding.

Today’s Series A round was led by Portage, with participation from new investors PruVen Capital, Wing Venture Capital, SixThirty Ventures, Mighty Capital, Wormhole Capital, Mindset Ventures, Aloft VC and Pilot.com Inc. founder Waseem Daher. Existing backers Blumberg Capital, Correlation Ventures, TSVC and Y Combinator also joined in.

Angle Health was co-founded in 2021 by former Palantir Technologies Inc. engineers Ty Wang, its chief executive officer, and Anirban Gangopadhyay, its chief technology officer. They created the company after becoming frustrated with their experiences of the personal health insurance industry in the U.S. The startup wants to reinvent the way Americans obtain health insurance by bringing traditional healthcare providers, digital health and wellness into a single, cohesive ecosystem that promotes better health.

The startup participated in the accelerator Y Combinator’s Winter 2020 cohort and has been building its artificial intelligence-powered app and regulatory infrastructure since then.

Wang explained that Angle Health’s mission is to unify the fragmented healthcare benefits system. He said that under its current guise, it severely limits most people’s access to modern healthcare services such as telemedicine, digital behavioral health and chronic disease management.

“Just as tools for navigation and ride-sharing have eliminated the need to read maps and street signs to traverse the physical world, Angle Health is eliminating the need for members to navigate the complexities of the healthcare system on their own, and empowering members to get care without breaking the bank,” Wang said.

Angle Health does this with a digital-first care navigation experience offered through its mobile application, with a range of comprehensive healthcare benefit plans that employers can offer to their staff. Telemedicine, behavioral health and other digital health services, which traditionally have always been outside the scope of health insurance providers, are core offerings integrated into each Angle Health plan at either minimal, or no cost. Moreover, each individual who signs up to one of Angle Health’s plans gets direct access to the Angle Care team, which is available 24/7 to answer any questions relating to health.

Portage Partner Ricky Lai said Angle Health is set to transform an industry that’s dominated by rigid benefit plans, opaque underwriting and difficult switching costs. “Just as innovators like Kin and Lemonade have done for personal lines of insurance, Angle Health has made health insurance more convenient, approachable and affordable for employers and members,” he said.

Angle Health said that it’s already providing health insurance coverage to thousands of members, having expanded into Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, Missouri and South Carolina. It counts a growing number of brokers and companies that have selected Angle Health as their primary healthcare insurance partner, including NFP Corp., Leavitt Group Enterprises Inc., Aon Plc. and Atomic Fi Inc.

“As a high-growth startup we want to keep our employees healthy and provide them with best-in-class healthcare benefits,” said Atomic Fi Special Advisor Bailee Jones. “Angle Health is more than just an insurance company — they have put our employees at the center, constantly going out of their way to provide care and support.”

Image: Angle Health