CEO and Co-founder of Nova Benefits, Saransh Garg is on a mission to build healthier and happier workplaces
Hailing from the city of dreams, Mumbai, Saransh Garg is the CEO, Co-founder of Nova Benefits—an employee health and wellness company headquartered in Bangalore.
A two-time entrepreneur, Saransh is a published author as well. At 21, he wrote a book to help management consulting candidates get into firms like BCG, McKinsey & Company, and Bain & Co. His first publication is now considered the Bible for consulting interviews at IIM & IITs.
In 2017, Saransh invested in Rupeek Global Loans as a part of Accel’s investment team. Today, Rupeek is on its way to becoming a unicorn. A year later, he launched Prodigal–a software company that offers solutions to US lenders. It is now a Series A funded startup backed by Y-Combinator, Accel, and Menlo Ventures.
What’s unique about Nova Benefits?
Nova Benefits is an employee wellness platform focused on corporate health insurance, and it helps organisations of all sizes find the best group health insurance. 200+ companies, including Snapdeal, PharmEasy, CoinDCX, Chumbak, and Homelane, have partnered with Nova.
Today, Nova covers 100,000+ lives and has successfully processed 3000+ claims. It is a Series A funded company backed by SIG, Bessemer, Multiple Ventures, Better Capital & Titan Capital.
The evolution of Nova: Challenges faced, and the approach taken
Team Nova is building an employee wellness platform that is easy to use. Nova’s tech infrastructure has been developed to address the challenges faced when purchasing policies, understanding policy terms, applying for claims, gamifying fitness activities, and accessing wellness benefits like mental health counselling.
The Indian B2B health insurance sector is still in its nascent stages. Trends suggest that most Indians will eventually be insured by their employers, mirroring mature markets such as the USA.
In India, at the moment insurance market penetration is low, whereas medical inflation is constantly on the rise. This stood out as a problem Saransh wanted to solve with innovation and technology.
Making the right choice
Starting a company is easier said than done. On his quest to find someone equally passionate about solving a problem, Saransh met Yash Gupta, the CTO, Co-founder of Nova.
It was now the time to choose between starting a company focused on motor insurance or one centred on health insurance and employee wellness. The COVID-19 pandemic underlined the lack and importance of holistic health insurance. Selecting health insurance over motor was thus an obvious and much-needed choice.
Nova began operations in the middle of the first lockdown in India. The duo soon realised that most Indians already had health insurance provided by their employers, and employers yearned for holistic solutions that went beyond health insurance. Thus began Nova’s journey to change the narrative from “hustle culture” to “wellness culture”.
Finding the right balance between price and service was the key and the biggest challenge for Nova. The company’s blueprint is thus built around finding the ideal wellness packages for clients alongside health insurance.
The pandemic and Nova Benefits –– modern problem, new-age solution
The Covid-19 pandemic was not on the horizon when Saransh and Yash were skimming through ideas to start their company. The pandemic compelled Indians to take health insurance seriously, which led to creating a solution that ensured employees were protected against unforeseen medical expenses. The duo realised that while some Indians were already covered by their employers, this number was only going to increase.
Choosing a tech-first community over others
The perilous pitfalls of health insurance and the growing need for personalised care demand the nuanced approach facilitated by technology. Nova uses technology to address arduous situations arising due to communication gaps and the critical member-facing functions, such as enrollment, endorsements and claims.
Nova’s journey to Series A funding
Within four months of the launch, Nova Benefits witnessed a growing trend of companies adopting a people-first approach focusing on employee well-being. In September 2021, six months after the initial fundraising of $1 million from existing investors, Nova secured $10M in a Series A round led by Susquehanna International Group (SIG) and Bessemer Venture Partners.
In February 2022, Nova Benefits became the first investment of Naval Ravikant backed AngelList Early-Stage Quant Fund in India, receiving an undisclosed amount. The company’s impressive hiring statistics convinced investors to invest, and Nova’s hiring volume is reminiscent of the American Company DoorDash’s early days.
Speaking of the investment, Abraham Othman, PhD, who heads the Quant Fund’s investment committee, said: “The Quant Fund is thrilled to be an investor in Nova Benefits. We believe that exceptional outcomes require exceptional people, and the volume and quality of Nova’s job applicants rank among the top of startups globally, not just in India.”
Nova’s mission is to build happier and healthier workplaces to cover 10 million people in India by 2025. The company not only cares for people when they are hospitalised but also prevent them from falling sick in the first place. With the recent fundraise, Nova aims to expand its wellness offerings across product management, engineering, sales and customer success teams. The Quant Fund has provided Nova a platform to connect with investors and attract a skilled talent pool.
Nova Benefits plans to use part of the funds to set up an Analytics Division to track hiring and employee wellness trends.
- Hiring highlights:
- Nova hired 40% of early tech team members from AngelList
- The company has a whopping employee net performance score of 75
- Nova follows a tight recruiting process rolling out within two weeks and maintaining a 3-day SLA between rounds
Way forward
Nova’s goal is to insure 10 million Indians under their corporate health insurance policy and provide free access to benefits such as telehealth consultations, therapy, and wellness sessions, to name a few.
The company’s quest to build happier and healthier workplaces is propelled by centring the group health insurance policies around employee wellbeing. They want to ensure people are not only cared for when they are hospitalized but also prevent them from falling sick by ensuring overall wellbeing. That motivates everyone at Nova to do what they do every day!
Saransh’s message to aspiring entrepreneurs
“As a startup, you have the advantage of having a beginner’s mindset. That means you can look at a problem afresh, without the baggage of the past. I’ve always believed you need outsiders to disrupt entrenched incumbents in any industry. New founders should look at their lack of domain expertise as a strength and at a later stage complement the team with some industry expertise.”
The authored article is written and shared with Prittle Prattle News exclusively.
Must Read: Edu Brain
Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Tumblr
