Health benefits platform Thatch reaches $1B valuation as healthcare costs surge

医疗福利平台 Thatch 估值达到 10 亿美元，医疗成本激增

Thatch, a platform that lowers healthcare costs for employers while expanding plan choices for workers, has raised $108 million at a $1 billion valuation from existing investors: The General Partnership, Index Ventures, General Catalyst, and Andreessen Horowitz. The new fundraise comes 17 months after Thatch raised a $40 million Series B at a $410 million valuation, according to PitchBook. That’s a remarkable valuation leap for a company that isn’t, at its core, an AI startup.

Thatch 是一个旨在降低雇主医疗成本并为员工扩大保险计划选择的平台。该公司近日筹集了 1.08 亿美元资金，估值达到 10 亿美元，投资方包括 The General Partnership、Index Ventures、General Catalyst 和 Andreessen Horowitz 等现有投资者。据 PitchBook 数据显示，此次融资距离 Thatch 上一轮 4000 万美元的 B 轮融资（当时估值为 4.1 亿美元）仅过去 17 个月。对于一家核心业务并非人工智能的初创公司来说，这一估值增长令人瞩目。

Thatch grew its annual recurring revenue about seven times, co-founder and CEO Chris Ellis told TechCrunch. Ellis co-founded Thatch in 2021 with former Stripe engineering exec Adam Stevenson (pictured right). Two major forces are driving the startup’s growth. First, employer healthcare costs keep surging, with 2027 expenses projected to jump over 8% — the largest increase since 2003. At the same time, employees are increasingly eager to access new treatments like GLP-1 drugs (weight-loss and diabetes medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy), which traditional health plans rarely cover.

Thatch 联合创始人兼首席执行官 Chris Ellis 向 TechCrunch 表示，公司的年度经常性收入增长了约七倍。Ellis 于 2021 年与前 Stripe 工程高管 Adam Stevenson（右图）共同创立了 Thatch。两大主要因素正在推动这家初创公司的增长：首先，雇主的医疗成本持续飙升，预计 2027 年的支出将增长超过 8%，这是自 2003 年以来的最大增幅。与此同时，员工对 GLP-1 类药物（如 Ozempic 和 Wegovy 等减肥和糖尿病药物）等新疗法的需求日益迫切，而传统的健康保险计划很少覆盖这些药物。

Thatch helps employers keep healthcare costs manageable by offering an individual plan marketplace through what’s known as an ICHRA (Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement) — a model created by federal regulation in 2020 that lets companies fund employees’ own individual insurance plans instead of enrolling everyone in one company-wide plan. Under ICHRAs, which recently rebranded as CHOICE, employers no longer have to negotiate traditional healthcare agreements with individual insurance carriers like Anthem or United Healthcare. Instead, companies set a fixed health budget for each worker, who can then use those pre-tax funds to choose among dozens of health, dental, and vision plans on Thatch’s marketplace.

Thatch 通过提供所谓的 ICHRA（个人覆盖健康报销安排）个人保险计划市场，帮助雇主控制医疗成本。这是一种由 2020 年联邦法规创建的模式，允许公司资助员工个人的保险计划，而不是将所有人纳入统一的公司保险计划中。在最近更名为“CHOICE”的 ICHRA 模式下，雇主无需再与 Anthem 或 United Healthcare 等保险公司协商传统的医疗协议。相反，公司为每位员工设定固定的健康预算，员工可以使用这些税前资金在 Thatch 的市场上选择数十种健康、牙科和视力保险计划。

Thatch uses AI to recommend the optimal health plan for each employee’s specific needs. Those needing extensive care can supplement their allowance out of pocket for comprehensive coverage. Healthier workers, meanwhile, can opt for lower-cost plans and use the leftover funds via a Thatch debit card for other eligible health expenses like GLP-1s or an Oura Ring.

Thatch 利用人工智能为每位员工的特定需求推荐最优的健康计划。需要大量护理的员工可以自费补充其津贴，以获得更全面的保障。与此同时，身体更健康的员工可以选择成本较低的计划，并将剩余资金通过 Thatch 借记卡用于其他符合条件的健康支出，例如购买 GLP-1 药物或 Oura Ring 智能戒指。

Ellis claims that this arrangement is a win-win for employers and workers. “If [employees] don’t like their insurance, they can switch to another one,” he said. “It creates pressure on insurers to compete for better service, denying fewer claims because they want to keep you as a customer.” The benefit to employers is that they no longer have to renegotiate with carriers annually, yet they can still provide the same level of coverage, often at a slightly lower cost, he said.

Ellis 声称，这种安排对雇主和员工来说是双赢的。“如果（员工）不喜欢他们的保险，他们可以换成另一种，”他说。“这给保险公司带来了竞争压力，迫使他们提供更好的服务，并减少拒赔，因为他们希望留住客户。”他表示，对雇主而言，好处在于他们不再需要每年与保险公司重新谈判，但仍能提供同等水平的保障，且成本往往略有降低。

Thatch isn’t the only company taking advantage of the six-year-old regulation to offer employers an alternative to the traditional healthcare benefits model. Competitors include other startups such as Take Command, Remodel Health, and Zorro. “People are waking up to this because of costs, but then they’re realizing this is a better, more efficient way to do it,” Ellis said.

Thatch 并不是唯一一家利用这项已有六年历史的法规为雇主提供传统医疗福利模式替代方案的公司。其竞争对手还包括 Take Command、Remodel Health 和 Zorro 等初创公司。“人们因为成本问题开始关注这一点，但随后他们意识到这是一种更好、更高效的运作方式，”Ellis 说道。