Eduardo della Maggiora, the CEO of a newly minted Chilean unicorn, is moving to Miami next month and plans to open a Miami office that would likely eventually become the social impact insurtech’s global hub.
The news comes on the heels of Betterfly’s $125 million Series C capital raise, announced today. The funding round was led by Glade Brook Capital, with participation from Greycroft and Lightrock. This brings Betterfly’s total funding to over $200 million, and the insurtech startup is now valued at $1 billion, making it a unicorn.
Betterfly, founded in 2018, is reimagining both product and distribution in the global insurance and employee benefits market. Its business model centers on offering a fully digital, all-in-one “Prevention, Protection and Purpose” solution. Betterfly encourages its members to live a healthy lifestyle by rewarding members for taking care of their mental, physical and financial well-being. Users earn “Bettercoins” they can use toward life insurance coverage or charitable donations when they meet wellness goals through the Betterfly app.
Betterfly is a Public Benefit Corporation or B-Corp, a partnership model in which social impact is as important as economic results. “We were often told that this would prevent us from growing and raising capital in the future. Time has proved us right,” said della Maggiora, who co-founded the company with his brother Cristobal. “I would go so far as to say that the fact that we put social purpose at the forefront of everything we do, our operations, our culture and our brand, is the reason why we have been able to capture great interest among investors and achieve several milestones that a couple of years ago would have seemed impossible.”
In Latin America, for example, 8% of people under the age of 18 lose the family member who provides them with family support, and of those families, 70% to 75% enter bankruptcy within three months of the loss, della Maggiora said. “This very challenging context is what drives Betterfly’s purpose. We want to democratize access to physical, mental and financial well-being, and empower people to become the best version of themselves and have an impact on their families and communities.”
Now operating in Chile and Brazil, Betterfly plans to use the new funding to continue to grow the platform, as well as to begin operations in seven new markets this year – Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Panamá and Costa Rica. Next year, it plans to make a big push into Portugal, Spain – and the United States from its Miami hub. Betterfly currently has about 500 employees.
“We believe Betterfly is building the SuperApp for employee benefits and wellness,” said Paul Hudson, Founding Partner of Glade Brook Capital.
Della Maggiora, an Endeavor Entrepreneur, is moving to Miami next month and plans to open a Betterfly office with members of his senior team, the company confirmed. To prepare for the US launch, they are seeking to partner with US financial institutions and life insurers. Over time they plan to hire local and grow the team, and Miami would be Betterfly’s global hub.
The startup’s Series C follows a period of explosive growth for Betterfly. Since its last funding round, Betterfly acquired six companies in Chile and Brazil, entered the Brazilian market signing a partnership with Icatú, the country’s largest independent insurer, and announced a partnership with Chubb.
In October, SoftBank announced that Betterfly was one of the companies it had funded as part of its Miami Initiative. Last January, SoftBank pledged to invest $100 million in startups based in, relocating to or significantly expanding in the Miami area. By October, SoftBank had invested $250 million and has made another handful of Miami investments since then.
Follow Nancy Dahlberg on Twitter @ndahlberg and email her at [email protected]
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