Health insurance start-up Alan has just raised 185 million euros. Valued at 1.4 billion euros thanks to this fund-raising, it becomes the 12th French "unicorn" and joins the select circle of start-ups valued at over one billion dollars.
A fast-growing start-up
The health crisis has clearly had no impact on assurtech Alan, whose growth reached 105% in 2020, a year in which it generated revenues of 90 million euros.
Born less than 5 years ago, the online health insurer already counts 155,000 policyholders and 9,000 companies in its customer portfolio. Between January 2020 and January 2021, the start-up grew from 160 to 274 employees.
Jean-Charles Samuelian, its co-founder and CEO, defines it as a healthcare company, but considers insurance to be just one part of the offering. Ultimately, the start-up intends to make its application an indispensable tool for the day-to-day management of users' health, offering the possibility of organizing the entire care pathway.
The company recently raised 185 million euros in financing, valuing its capital at 1.4 billion euros. Alan thus acquires "unicorn" status, joining 11 other French start-ups valued at over $1 billion, including Blablacar, Doctolib, ContentSquare, Kyriba and Mirakl.
Alan, a unique corporate culture
At Alan, recruitment is not based on the qualifications of candidates, who are "interviewed" by a representative panel of the company. So it's not just the managers who decide when it comes to expanding the team.
Recruitment takes place in 4 stages. The first interview, which is relatively standard, consists of describing the job in question and listening to the candidate's motivations. The second, technical interview is followed by a third, during which the candidate's values and experience are the focus of attention.
Finally, the fourth and last stage is not an interview, but a one-day immersion in the company's offices, which allows both the candidate and the recruiters to confirm or deny their first impressions.
Alan is pursuing a proactive policy to contribute to the feminization of the tech sector, without engaging in positive discrimination.
Meetings, considered time-consuming and inefficient, are replaced by virtual discussions in which everyone participates when they have the time.
In addition, all employees are involved in the company's development. After 2 years with the start-up, they can choose to sell 5% of their shares at a fund-raising event. Of the 185 million euros raised at the last fund-raising, 35 million were used to buy back the shares of the initial investors and 12 employees.