Insurer nib takes 50% stake in medtech startup Midnight Health in $4 million deal

Digital health startup Midnight Health has partnered health insurer nib, in a $4 million deal for a 50% equity stake in the business. 

The healthtech venture launched its first platform, Youly, in February this year, offering delivery of the Morning After Pill along with additional women’s healthcare needs, such as the contraceptive pill, thrush, sleep and HSV-2 treatments.

Youly is complemented by Midnight Health’s men’s vertical, Stagger, which launched in August.

The two platforms offer a network of Australian doctors, pharmacies and healthcare partners to provide an online patient experience with treatments through to delivery.

Founder and CEO Nic Blair said brand also has plans to expand into seniors’ health, gut health, cannabidiol products and other related needs in coming months.

The injection of funds from the nib deal will be used to grow the team and deliver a more robust patient-led healthcare platform, new products, marketing and customer acquisition. 

“In addition, the investment will allow us to pursue a strategic partnership with nib and gain access to their 1.4 million members to provide digital healthcare services, bringing great exposure to Midnight Health and our group of brands,” he said.

“Covid-19 identified huge inconsistencies in consumer demand for accessible healthcare and the current services and offering available to Australians.”

 Blair said he is thrilled to partner with an established leader in the healthcare space.

“nib understand the healthcare landscape on an international scale and is committed to improving the future of this industry as technology advances and patient requirements evolve,” he said. 

“From our first conversation, it was clear that there was an alignment between nib and Midnight Health’s vision to consolidate the fragmented healthcare industry through our patient-led digital healthcare platform. 

“Being able to leverage the experience of an industry-leading team and innovative enterprise in nib is an exciting opportunity for the future of our business.”

nib Managing Director, Mark Fitzgibbon said the deal will help bring to life elements of nib’s payer to partner (P2P) business strategy as it moves towards good health and disease prevention.

“There’s a large marketplace for healthcare products and services we’re generally not able to cover through private health insurance so to this extends our reach. It also allows us to offer additional personalised support for private health insurance members. Importantly, it will introduce many young people to nib who may not yet be ready for private health insurance,” he said.

“Midnight Health have recognised the healthcare market is diverse and that consumers are demanding products and services aligned with their individual needs. And that increasingly, delivery will be heavily reliant upon digital platforms which know them and are easy to access and navigate. They already have more than 4,500 subscribers and we naturally expect this to grow with our close involvement.”