When Alain first launched its health insurance product in France in 2016, it was the first new health insurance company in the country in 30 years. Now that Alan has announced expansion into Canada, the startup is on the verge of breaking new records. Canada has not had a new health insurance company since 1957.
In many ways, Alan treats health insurance as a software-as-a-service. This is a subscription-first product that can be optimized with technology. For example, Alan built his own claims management system. Its main product is health insurance, which complements France's national healthcare system. French companies are required to offer health insurance to all employees upon joining the company.
The startup has also added additional services to improve consumer satisfaction, reduce churn, and win new business. Alan members can use the company's mobile app to chat with doctors, order prescription glasses, and access preventive care content on mental health and back pain, for example.
While the company has raised significant funding, including a recently announced €173 million Series F round, Alan is relatively focused when it comes to geography. In addition to your home country, this service is also available in Belgium and Spain.
However, this is such a large market that you don't necessarily need to launch everywhere to find new customers. We currently cover 675,000 people across three markets. Given that almost 100% of the population in France, Belgium, and Spain has health insurance, Alain remains a challenger.
But that doesn't seem to have stopped Alan's expansion plans. The company has obtained Canada's federal OFSI license, which means it can officially operate as an insurance company in the country. The company is building local committees and local teams with insurance and medical experts.
“You can't use a European license in Canada; you'll have to apply for a new license. However, the rules for solvency, distribution, risk management, etc. are very similar,” says co-founder Alan CEO and CEO Jean-Charles Samuelian-Werve told TechCrunch.
Arran is essentially bringing the complete Arran product suite to Canada and plans to hire 50 people in the country over the next few years.
It's surprising that Alan didn't choose a European country as his next market expansion destination. Part of the reason is Alan's case table. Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG), the venture fund of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, led Alan's Series E round. But when it came to Canada, Alan wanted to make a statement.
“I try to take a very long-term view in our decision-making at Arran, and when I imagine Arran 10 years from now, I don't think we're just a European company. . We consider ourselves a global company,” said Samulian Warb.
Canada is also a fairly large market, with both national and private health insurance coverage. Although primary care is covered by the government, the majority of health care, approximately $60 billion annually, is handled by health insurance companies. And things haven't changed much these days.
“There are only 20 people in Canada.” [health insurance providers] Companies with a market share of at least 1%. That number is 400 in France…really, really uncompetitive [in Canada]'' said Mark Goad, Alan's general manager for Canada. “If you look at Satisfaction by Net Promoter Score, it’s -8 in Canada, but Alan is +70.”
Similar to France, the Canadian team intends to distribute Allan through his employer. Employers typically choose one health insurance provider to cover all of their employees.
Approximately 55 Canadian companies have already expressed interest in Allan's trials. The company plans to onboard one customer per week starting in January 2025. We then plan to launch a self-sign-up portal sometime in the second quarter of 2025.