June 15, 2022 – Sesame announced that it has raised $27 million in Series B financing to expand its national marketplace of high-quality, ultra-affordable medical care for all Americans, whether they are insured or not.
The round was led by GV (formerly Google Ventures), and Cathy Friedman, Executive Venture Partner at GV, will join the Sesame board of directors. Virgin Group, TeleSoft Partners and FMZ Ventures also participated in the round as new investors, alongside existing investors General Catalyst, Industry Ventures, Coefficient Capital, Giant Ventures and Alumni Ventures Group.
By using innovation to succeed where legislation and bureaucracy have failed, Sesame delivers half-price, whole quality medical care, assuring that no American is priced out of accessing the primary and specialized care they need. In fact, the average price paid for care in the Sesame Marketplace is less than $40, while the company maintains a Net Promoter Score of 87 (considered world class), and nearly 80% of physicians in the Sesame Marketplace have 5-star reviews.
According to the 2020 US census, 28 million Americans still do not have health insurance. At the same time, according to research, 52.9% of American workers covered by private health insurance through their employer were enrolled in high-deductible health plans (HDHP) in 2020, an increase of more than 33 percent in just five years.
Sesame is a two-sided marketplace populated by physicians and patients only. As with other online marketplaces, consumers can research and shop for a physician – and book an appointment – with the same price transparency and zero friction they experience when making other purchases.
By virtue of these marketplace dynamics, Sesame saw prices for all manner of care types drop as much as 67 percent in 2021. Sesame offers complete, longitudinal health care delivered either in-person or via telehealth, and includes primary care, acute consults and chronic care management, specialty medicine, dentistry, labs, imaging and more – all for as little as $25 per visit nationwide.
Health care providers in the marketplace leverage Sesame’s tools for maximizing the value of their time and equipment, just as in any other industry, to offer variable pricing based on peak and off-peak windows.
In addition to using the proceeds to accelerate the company’s growth, Sesame will use the Series B proceeds to evolve its Sesame membership product from beta into general availability. The Sesame membership works on a monthly subscription basis, and entitles its members to free services, deep discounts and exclusive access to all of the everyday care services that matter most: primary care visits, prescriptions, dental, labs, imaging and more. The beta launched in November 2021 and has seen tremendous traction among Sesame patients, who book 33 percent more appointments than non-members.