Paris-based digital health insurance provider Alan - founded in 2016 - has raised €40m in a Series B funding round led by Index Ventures and partners of DST Global. 

Alan, the first licensed health insurance company in France in more than 30 years, plans to use the new money to grow its user base in France, with a focus on SMEs and freelancers, and expand its team to 175 employees by the end of the year - which grew from 14 to 64 people in 2018.

This follows a €23m Series A round raised only ten months ago, and brings the startup’s total funding to €75m. 

According to the 2017 State of Health in the EU report, voluntary health insurance has "an important role in France". 

"It provides complementary insurance for co-payments and better coverage for medical goods and services poorly covered by SHI [social health insurance] (e.g. eyeglasses and dental care)," it states.

The analysis indicates that responsibility for health system management is divided between the state and SHI; nearly 80 percent of the total health expenditure is publicly funded. Voluntary health insurance funds about 14 percent of the total, covering approximately 95 percent of the country’s population.

“At Alan, we want to create a dramatic move to a more transparent, caring, and delightful health experience. Moving fast - it has been only 10 months since our last fundraising - with the support of top-tier investors is a confirmation of our vision to build intuitively obvious healthcare for the community,” said Alan CEO and co-founder Jean-Charles Samuelian.

The startup says that its insured base grew to 27,000 from less than 5,000, and its revenue increased to €22m from less than €3.5m in 2018.

Tom Stafford, DST Global Managing Partner, added:

“Legacy solutions lead many employers to provide limited and inefficient health insurance for their employees. Through Alan, companies can sign-up quickly and easily and offer best-in-class healthcare for their employees at a competitive price and in a digital format."