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Limelight Health raises $33.5 million in Series C funding

January 17, 2019

Limelight Health announced today that it has raised $33.5 million in series C funding.

The round was led by Principal, with participation from AXA Venture Partners, MassMutual Ventures, Aflac Ventures, Transamerica Ventures, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, LaunchPad Digital Health and Wanxiang America Healthcare Investments.

Limelight Health delivers a technology platform and solution for health insurance and employee benefits professionals. Its platform connects and integrates data with other beneficial technologies like payroll, CRM, benefits administration, and compliance tools.

The insurtech software company, based in San Francisco, expanded its operations to Des Moines in July of 2018.

“I love the ecosystem in Des Moines, notwithstanding the fact there are about 80 insurance companies in the area,” said Jason Andrew, CEO and co-founder of LimeLight Health. “There’s a real collaboration between industry, government and business there that you don’t find in too many places. We think it’s a great location for our company to really grow our presence.”

Over the last year and a half, Limelight Health’s recurring revenues per month grew 750 percent. During that same time period, the company has more than doubled the headcount of its team from 45 to 110 employees.

Limelight Health will use the funds for product development, customer acquisition, and continuing to expand its team, Andrew told Clay & Milk.

“At Principal, we are committed to helping advance innovations that are laser-focused on solving real challenges for advisors, small and medium-size businesses and their employees,” said Kara Hoogensen Vice President of Group Benefits, U.S. Insurance Solutions at Principal, in the announcement. “We are proud to be a leader in the insurance industry in offering Limelight Health’s impressive cloud-based enterprise software that will modernize the quote-to-enroll process while breaking down key barriers hindering sixty percent of SMBs from providing ancillary benefits.”

Previous coverage

Scouting Report: Limelight Health coming to Des Moines -July 23, 2018

Tags: Limelight Health startupiowa

Limelight Health raises $33.5 million in Series C funding | Clay & Milk

A central Iowa ag-tech accelerator has secured more backers and finally has a name. The Greater Des Moines Partnership first announced the accelerator last year, naming four initial investors. On Monday, the Partnership said the program will be called the "Iowa AgriTech Accelerator" and named three new investors. The new investors include Grinnell Mutual, Kent Corp. and Sukup Manufacturing, all Iowa companies. They join investors Deere & Co., Peoples Co., Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Co. and DuPont Pioneer. Each investor has agreed to put up $100,000 for the first year of the accelerator. Startups entering the program will receive $40,000 in seed funding in exchange for 6 percent equity. Tej Dhawan, an angel investor and local startup mentor, is serving as interim director until the AgriTech Accelerator names a permanent leader. Dhawan held a similar role with the GIA before Brian Hemesath was named as managing director. As interim director, Dhawan said his main job includes hiring the accelerator's executive director, establishing a business structure and initial recruiting for the first cohort. The accelerator will place few filters, such as location and product, on the applicant pool, Dhawan said. "When you’re seeking innovation, innovation can come from every corner of the world so why restrict ourselves," he said. One area the the AgriTech Accelerator won't recruit from is biotech. For its first cohort, the AgriTech Accelerator will work out of the GIA's space in Des Moines' East Village, Dhawan said. A future, permanent home is still to be decided. The accelerator's program will host startups from mid-July through mid-October, ending with an event connected to the annual World Food Prize. The GIA, which the AgriTech Accelerator is based on, also ends with presentations at an industry event. The accelerator has also started lining up a mentor pool. The Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Pork Producers Association have agreed to provide mentors, as has Iowa State University. While the AgriTech Accelerator is loosely based off of the GIA, it will differ in its business structure, Dhawan said. The GIA runs through a for-profit model for both operations and its investment fund. The AgriTech Accelerator will have a nonprofit model for its operations and a for-profit setup for its fund. Dhawan said the nonprofit model is being used so the accelerator can better work with other nonprofit partners, such as trade associations. "These are all organizations that are nonprofits and can be amazing stakeholders without ever having to be investors in the accelerator," he said. "It becomes easier to work with trade associations in their nonprofit role when we are also a nonprofit." When it's up and running, the AgriTech Accelerator would be one of a handful of ag-focused startup development programs in Iowa. Others include the Ag Startup Engine out of Iowa State University and the Rural Ventures Alliance from Iowa MicroLoan. Matthew Patane is the managing editor and co-founder of Clay & Milk. Send him an email at mpatane@clayandmilk.com.

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