Collective Health raises $81m to help small employers migrate health insurance
Collective Health has raised $81m from Google Ventures in a bid to expand outside its California base, throughtout the US. The company offers a helpiing hand to small businesses to ﻿migrate their insurance schemes to self-funded plans, and will work with major insurers such as Anthem and Blue Shield of California to help deliver its offering. “We’re working to shift the focus of health insurance from profits to people,” Ali Diab, CEO of Collective Health, said in a statement, adding "Ultimately, this funding will give Collective Health a big boost in our mission to make the healthcare experience in our country something we can all feel proud of."

SAN FRANCISCO — While many start-ups have sought to make their name in the health care industry, fewer are taking on the knotty health insurance information services sector.

Collective Health, which provides tools to help companies with their employer-provided insurance, said on Tuesday that it had raised $81 million in a new round of financing. The round was led by Google Ventures, a new investor, and existing backers New Enterprise Associates, Founders Fund, Maverick Capital, Redpoint Ventures and RRE Ventures.

Collective Health raised $32 million seven months ago, and the new round increases the company’s total fund-raising to $119 million.

Health insurance is a notoriously difficult business for start-ups to grapple with, given the reams of regulations that must be followed.