Aflac Corporate Ventures Makes Strategic Investment in Digital Health Company Sharecare to Accelerate Healthcare Innovation

On November 3, 2019, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that Aflac Corporate Ventures (NYSE: AFL), the corporate venture capital arm of Aflac, announced a strategic investment in the digital health company Sharecare. Financial terms of this funding round were not disclosed.

As a leading digital health company, Sharecare’s mission is to help users build longer, better lives by enabling health transformation at the individual, organizational, and community levels. Through its comprehensive mobile platform, Sharecare empowers individuals to transition from health assessments to healthcare engagement, connecting them with personalized information, programs, benefits, community resources, and health services, thereby providing access to the tools and resources needed to improve their health.

Jeff Arnold, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Sharecare, stated, “Our mission is to create new ways to enhance everyone’s health experience through digital connectivity. Beyond this, what truly inspired Aflac Corporate Ventures to invest is our shared goal of improving well-being for all, starting in Georgia. We are proud of Sharecare’s work, which has helped raise Georgia’s ranking in the National Well-Being Index from 31st to 23rd place, but this is just the beginning. With the support of companies like Aflac Corporate Ventures, our mission will undoubtedly have a transformative impact on our company, our state, and the entire healthcare industry.”

Nadeem G. Khan, President of Aflac Corporate Ventures, stated, “Our strategic investment in Sharecare demonstrates our continued focus on innovative and scalable companies in their growth stage, aligning with our overall strategy. The partnership with Sharecare provides us with greater opportunities to invest in Georgia-based companies and to play a more significant role in helping improve the overall health and well-being of all individuals.”

In addition to Aflac Corporate Ventures, the company’s strategic investors include hospitals, healthcare investment firms, and health plans, notably HCA, Trinity Health, Heritage Healthcare Innovation Fund, and CareFirst; media companies such as Discovery Communications, Harpo Productions, and Sony Pictures Television; and high-growth technology investment firms, including Claritas Capital, the noted crossover fund Wellington Management, Quest Diagnostics, Wells Fargo, and Swiss Re. Since its inception, Sharecare has raised more than $425 million in funding.

Aflac Corporate Ventures focuses on investing in growth-stage companies with strong value propositions and capable management teams, and partners with companies whose disruptive innovations in insurance, healthcare, finance, analytics, and other related fields align with its strategic interests.

(Compiled by: Xiong Hui)