Sidecar Health, an insurance startup focused on price transparency and direct payments for care, announced it secured $165 million in Series D financing.

Koch Disruptive Technologies led the round, with participation from Cathay Innovation, GreatPoint Ventures, Morpheus, Drive Capital, Duke University, BOND and Menlo Ventures. 

The company also announced that Koch Industries will provide medical insurance coverage through Sidecar for a segment of its workforce in 2025.

Additionally, Sidecar will partner with Koch to co-design insurance coverage for large employers. 

WHAT IT DOES

Sidecar Health's members use the company's app to customize the amount of annual healthcare coverage they would like and whether they would like coverage for prescriptions.

The company's plans have no coinsurance or copays. Because its approach is based on self-pay service rates, members can use a built-in price comparison to choose from the services of local providers.

Sidecar, which currently offers employer plans in Ohio and Georgia, will use the funds to expand into Florida. 

"The antiquated U.S. health insurance system is one of the main culprits in creating bottlenecks and hurdles to quality care," David Mauney, managing director of Koch Disruptive Technologies, said in a statement. 

"Sidecar Health is transforming the system with a model that offers a first-of-its-kind free market approach to healthcare that puts the consumer, not the insurance company, in control of their care decisions with never-before-seen tools and transparency paired with fewer restrictions. We look forward to working with Sidecar Health to accelerate commercial expansion in 2024 and beyond."

MARKET SNAPSHOT

In 2019, Sidecar Health raised $18 million and a year later secured $20 million in funding. 

In 2021, the company reached unicorn status after closing a $125 million Series C round, achieving a more than $1 billion valuation.  

In January, Sidecar Health and Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company partnered to provide Sidecar's members with access to low-cost medications through MCCPDC.