SAN CARLOS, Calif.—XP Health, a company developing a digital-first vision benefits platform, announced a $17.1 million Series A round led by HC9 Ventures, Valor Capital Group and ManchesterStory. Additional investors include Canvas Ventures, CameronVC, Core Innovation Capital, GSR Ventures, and Plug and Play, as well as high profile angels like Ken Goulet (former EVP of Anthem), Kevin Hill (former regional CEO of UnitedHealthcare), Jeff Epstein (CFO of Oracle, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners) and Brett Rochkind (former managing partner General Atlantic).

This expansion capital will bolster XP Health’s drive to reinvent how people experience vision benefits, its Sept. 28 announcement said. “This round of funding enables us to strengthen the platform’s functionality and provide a stellar consumer experience in the most affordable way to employers, insurance carriers, and employees,” said Antonio Moraes, co-founder, and CEO of XP Health and a former impact venture capital investor.

“We have a game-changing offering for how people access and experience employee benefits—with an ultimate goal to positively impact hundreds of millions of lives through high-quality, accessible and affordable health benefits.”

XP Health offers a high-quality, innovative vision care benefit that it says doubles the value of coverage while reducing costs by half for members. This recent fundraise follows a successful 2021 for the company, during which it raised $5.5 million and was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies. Starting with 30 clients last year, XP Health now services 1,500, including high-profile companies like Docusign, Chegg, Navistar, Sequoia Consulting, and strategic partners Guardian Life Insurance and The Health Benefit Alliance. All-in, XP Health covers more than 250,000 people.

XP Health's vision platform focused on eyecare and eyewear that can be used to enhance or replace existing vision plans, and uses artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and customer-centric design, the company said. Through its integrated supply chain, XP Health maintains low costs, it states, "by removing the middlemen that add significant markups at several steps in the process. This business model has helped triple vision benefits coverage for employees while reducing their out-of-pocket costs by 80 percent, all while cutting employer eyewear claim costs by 40 percent. This model has also helped the company to grow their revenue by 9,300 percent since January 2021."

XP Health stated, "Vision coverage has remained static, complicated, expensive, and unsatisfying for decades. An estimated 93 million adults in the United States (about 25 percent of the population) are at high risk for serious vision loss, but only half visited an eye doctor in the past 12 months, citing a CDC and JAMA Ophthalmology study.

“The XP Health team is bringing some much-needed change to vision benefits. HC9 is excited to leverage our experience and network to help XP Health accelerate growth while improving eye health,” said Jon Gordon, general partner of HC9 Ventures. “We know firsthand what it is like to operate and grow businesses that are driving health innovation, and XP Health is the perfect partner.”

“We believe that XP Health will fundamentally transform the future of vision benefits and are thrilled to contribute to their mission to innovate in the space,” said Michael Nicklas of Valor Capital Group. “XP Health is working hard toward expanding access to high quality vision care to millions of employees in the United States and we are proud to have backed the company since day one.”

“As an insuretech-focused investor, we know that quality benefit programs make a big difference in a company’s ability to attract and retain employees, which is especially important given the current state of the job market,” said David Miles of ManchesterStory. “XP Health is on a path to make vision care a 'must have' core employee benefit. Our confidence in XP Health’s founding team and their passion for the end-consumer made XP Health an investment opportunity we could not pass up.”

VMAIL reported on the company's expansion of its executive team in July this year with a former VSP Vision executive and two strategic advisors.