Employee Wellness Platform Nova Benefits Raises $10 Mn In Series A Funding Round The company plans to use the funding to expand its engineering, product management, sales, and customer success teams to build a larger stack of wellness offerings on their platform

Bengaluru-based Nova Benefits, an employee wellness platform in India focusing on corporate health insurance, on Thursday announced to have secured $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Susquehanna International Group (SIG) and Bessemer Venture Partners. Existing investors, which include Multiply Ventures, Better Capital, and Titan Capital have also participated in this round.

The company plans to use the funding to expand its engineering, product management, sales, and customer success teams to build a larger stack of wellness offerings on its platform.

"Historically employee health insurance and wellness has just been a checkbox item for corporations. The pandemic has changed that. Nova's platform empowers progressive employers to provide personalized care for their team members which ultimately drives employee happiness and retention. A 24-year-old might be interested in developing positive fitness habits, a 32-year-old working mother would be concerned about her child's health and a 55-year-old might worry about ever-increasing healthcare expenses. We're excited to be on a path to improve the well-being of 10 million Indians by 2025," said Saransh Garg, co-founder, and chief executive officer, Nova Benefits.

Founded in 2020, Nova's tech platform helps companies improve employee wellbeing through health insurance, daily fitness, mental health counseling, and wellness programs. Health insurance premiums are rising much faster than inflation. Nova's wellness programs help enterprises increase coverage while simultaneously bending cost curves. This is done by nudging employees towards preventive care and gamifying their fitness goals.

"We are not only improving employee and HR experience for insurance but building a platform for a suite of benefits, including physical, mental, and financial health. When the pieces of this puzzle come together, the value created for our customers is much more than just the sum of parts," shared Yash Gupta, co-founder, and chief technology officer, Nova Benefits.

The company helps employees access their wellness benefits on a single platform, increase their insurance coverage as needed and get a good experience during a claim. It also helps HRs save time by automating manual workflows.

"We believe employee wellness is a nascent, under-penetrated but rapidly growing and evolving industry in India, and technology will play a critical role in accelerating this growth. We are excited to partner with Nova as it addresses key problems in the industry with its unique software-led approach thereby providing a tenfold better experience to employers and employees alike while enabling a more holistic benefits suite for employers in India," added Anant Vidur Puri, partner, Bessemer Venture Partners.

Nova Benefits saw a surge in clients amidst the pandemic, witnessing over tenfold growth in a span of one year. Since its inception, the company has onboarded over 150 clients including companies like Dream 11, CoinDCX, Snapdeal, Zenoti, Yulu Bikes with over 100,000 users on the platform.

Nova has a direct insurance broking license from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) which allows the company to provide businesses with a combination of insurers and coverages.

As per a report by Redseer, the corporate health and wellness market in India is valued at $7 billion currently and is expected to reach a value of $18 billion by 2025 driven by an increased focus on wellness by employers in a post-pandemic world.