- French insurance startup Alan has raised a €185 million ($223 million) Series D funding round led by Coatue.
- The funding will take the health insurance company to a unicorn valuation of €1.4 billion ($1.7 billion).
- The comapny aims to reach 1 million members across Europe by 2023.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
French insurance tech startup Alan has reached unicorn status after it secured a massive new funding round.
The Paris-based company raised €185 million ($223 million) in a Series D funding round led by US investment giant Coatue. The round valued Alan at €1.4 billion ($1.7 billion).
When it was founded in 2016, Alan became the first newly licensed health insurance company in France since 1986. CEO Jean Charles Samuelian, who wants to compete with legacy operators like AXA and Generali, estimates the French market alone to be worth as much as €50 billion.
"We've tried to remain focused on who we are and take a long term view of the experience we want to build," Sameulian told Insider in an interview. "We were looking for vision-orientated investors and we found that in Coatue."
The company previously raised $54 million from Index Ventures and Temasek in April 2020. Since then, Alan has doubled its member base to 155,000 and is aiming for 1 million members in Europe by 2023. The company has also surpassed €100 million ($120 million) in annualized revenue, according to a release.
Alan claims to offer a better user experience than its much-larger peers. The company, which claims to sell its policies with so-called "transparent" pricing, aims to become a first-port-of-call for all things personal health in the future.
The funding process began through conversations with Coatue's founder Phillipe Lafont in mid-January, and the raise took a few weeks to complete. The proposed funding then spent several weeks with France's health regulator before being approved. The new unicorn valuation is major validation for Alan, and Samuelian said it's a fair reflection of the business.
"We didn't look to optimize the valuation in that we spoke to less investors during the process and actually turned down higher valuations for the right partner," he said. "Our job now is to keep delivering a lot to maintain that valuation, we're under no illusions of what we have to achieve."
Alan intends to use the new funds to speed up its growth plans. The company employs around 350 people but it plans to bring in a further 400 new staff over the next 12 months. The Parisien firm will also further its international expansion plans, having already added Belgium and Spain to its roster last year.
"Our plan is to increase our tech capabilities so everything from APIs, payroll integration, automation and our concierge services," Samuelian said. "We are also looking to add new sectors to our coverage including hospitality plus retail and manufacturing."
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