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This $1.5B Startup Is Making
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JANUARY23,2017

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WIRED:Inlessthantwoyears,OscarHealth,aNewYorkCity Life.SREDA
basedhealthinsurancecompany,hasalreadyamassed40,000 1,840likes

members,withitsmemberfriendlyplansandtechdriven
approach.Now,thestartuphaslandedanother$145million
roundoffundingata$1.5billionvaluation,whichwillhelpbring LikePage

Oscarinsurancetoothercitiesacrossthecountrybytheendof
Bethefirstofyourfriendstolikethis
theyear.While$1billionplusvaluationsarecommonplaceinthe
techworldthesedays,Oscarisoneofahandfulofstartupsthat
seemstohavetrulyearnedit.Oscar,whichlaunchedbackin
2013,tookononeofthecountrysmostentrenchedandhairy
marketshealthinsuranceandinfuseditwithtechnologyand
userfriendlydesign.Nowitsgeneratingaround$200milliona
yearinrevenue,accordingtoCEOandcofounderMario Categories
Schlosser.AndthatsonlyinitsexistingmarketsinNewYorkand
NewJersey.
About(216)
Meanwhile,Oscarhassetahighbarforotherinsurance
companies,offeringmembersaslewofperkslikefreetelevisits, Accelerators/Incubators/Labs
freefitnesstrackers,freecheckups,andcashincentivesfor
(10)
gettingaflushot.Now,insurancecompaniesinothermarkets
arebeginningtofollowOscarslead,meaningthechallenge AI/MachineLearning/

aheadfortheOscarteamwillbetoexpandfasterthantheir BigData(34)
competitorscanripthemoff.Inanindustrylikehealthinsurance, Analytics(239)
wherethehealthcarelandscapecanchangedrasticallyfrom
Banks(535)
statetostate,thatdoesnthappenovernight.
Blockchain(459)
Wedontjustgointoanewgeographyandputabunchof Bots(32)
bannersonthewalls,Schlossersays.Itmakesthebarriersto
Cashless(234)
entryforanyoneattemptingthisquitedaunting,butthegood
thingforusis,foratleastpartsofthisprocess,wehavethe China(141)
technologytohandleit. Columns(27)

TyingItAllTogether Creditscoring(2)

Oscarsfoundingteaminitiallysetouttoapplyadesignthinking Credit/Debit/Prepaid
approachtohealthinsurance,whichmeantimprovingtheuser cards(4)
experienceforaproductthatisnotoriouslyuserunfriendly.While Crowdfunding/investing
theteamfeelsitaccomplisheditsinitialgoal,theyrealizedthat (79)
fixinghealthinsurancewouldtakemorethancosmeticwork.To
Cryptocurrencies(327)
getthere,theOscarteamhasbuiltmultipletoolsofthevariety
thathavebecomepopularinhealthtechrecently,including Deals(527)
doctoranddrugsearches,telemedicine,andfitnesstracking.
eWallets(120)
Moreimportantly,however,Oscarstoolstalktoeachother,
Fintechnews(1,921)
ensuringtheinformationdoesntgetstuckinsilosacross
companies. Globaltrends(980)

Governmentactivities
Oscaralsopartnersdirectlywithphysicianstohelpthembetter
(234)
understandtheirpatients.Forinstance,Oscarmaysoongive
hospitalplannersaccesstodataonwhetherornotpatientsfill HongKong(36)
theirprescriptionsorvisiturgentcarecentersafterahospital Hotnews(285)
stay.
India(118)
AccordingtoSchlosser,itsthisholisticapproachtotechnology Indonesia(22)
thatwillbethecompanyscompetitiveadvantageasitscales.
InfluencesFinTech(127)
Justfixingtheuserexperiencewontbeenough,hesays.We
wenttogreatlengthstocreateanincrediblycloserelationship InspirAsia(477)
Fintech news Global trends
betweenourtechnologyandphysicians. Blockchain InspirAsia Insurance(88)
Influences FinTech Columns Monthly digest Interviews(17)
Already,Oscarisseeingsomepromisingresultsfromthiswork.
Oneparticularlyimpressivestatisticisthefactthatsome60 Japan(24)
percentofOscarmemberswhohavebronchitishaveusedthe Korea(21)
telemedicinefeaturetodiagnoseitandgettreatment,according
Malaysia(21)
tothecompany.Ofthosecases,93percentgetresolvedover
thephonewithnoneedforafollowupvisit.Wefeelthatitsa MarketingReport(52)
nicewinwinwinsituation,Schlossersays.Thephysiciancan Mobilepayments/banking
delivercareinanefficientway.Thememberlovesitbecauseits (321)
convenient,andfrankly,welikeit,becauseoftentimes,those
Mobilefirstbanks(77)
conditionscouldbecomeworse.
Myanmar(10)
Butwhilea$1.5billionvaluationmaybehugeforatwoyearold
news(435)
startup,itsimportanttorememberthatspocketchange
comparedto,say,UnitedHealthGroups$114billionmarketcap p2ppayments(131)
orevenAetnas$37.75billionvalue.IfOscarsseemingly p2p/onlinelending(165)
overnightsuccessinoneofthecountrysmostcompetitivecities
Payment
forhealthinsuranceisanyindication,itsclearthecompanystill
processors/providers/gateways
haslotsofroomtogrow.
(34)

Paymentsystems(6)
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