Columbus insurtech startup Beam Dental raises $80 million

Beam Dental is a top insurtech startup based in Columbus, Ohio. The company has secured $80 million in Series E funding, bringing their total up to $168.4 million. The round was led by Mercato Partners’ growth equity fund, Traverse, and they were joined by new and existing investors: Drive Capital, Georgian, Nationwide and Breakout Capital.

Like many top startups in Columbus, Beam is disrupting the insurance industry (a $75 billion dental insurance industry, that is) with its app-enabled toothbrush and behavior-based insurance rates. Better brushing? Better insurance premiums. It also helps cut employer costs for dental insurance, allowing them to offer great benefits at an affordable cost. 

“At Beam, our vision is to modernize dental insurance by making it simpler and more intelligent,” said Alex Frommeyer, CEO and co-founder of Beam. “Our dental offering completely changes the way employers of all sizes think about dental wellness, by encouraging their employees to take better care of their teeth and making it easier to take a more proactive role in their dental care.”

And investors have taken notice. 

“Since its inception, Beam has driven innovation in the dental industry and enhanced the digital experience for its members, employers and brokers," said Joe Kaiser, director of Mercato Partners. 

Beam was founded by three engineers in 2012, and since then, the Columbus startup has seen rapid growth. The company has grown to 250 employees, its employer service is in 41 states, and they've increased their dentist network to 400,000 access points in all 50 states. Even the setbacks from 2020 couldn't keep Beam down. They've grown revenue by 600% over the past three years and doubled their member base in 2019 and again in 2020.

It's no wonder they are one of the top startups putting the Midwest on the tech map. 

Beam Dental is also one of the best places to work in the Midwest. As the company has rapidly increased its workforce, their focus on culture and retention has been all the more important to them. Some of the things that make Beam such a great place to work include:

• Diversity & inclusion
• Great benefits and focus on employee wellness
• Personal growth
• Ego-free leadership that’s genuinely supportive

But Beam's not done growing. The company plans to use the new capital to expand its offering to new markets, onboard additional employee benefits brokerages, and add additional products that are highly desired by the most innovative employers. And, yes, they are hiring!

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