#99 Acquiring a mission aligned business in America, Steven Zinsli founder and CEO of HealthNow
People Inspired By Purpose - Purposely Podcast
Shownotes Transcript
New Zealander Steven Zinsli first featured on Purposely in 2021 (#59) and he returns to share the very latest on his fintech company HealthNow. They are focused on improving accessibility and equity in healthcare. We reflect briefly on his founder story and then dive into how he is growing and scaling his company across the Globe. Despite never being to America (mainly because of travel restrictions caused by Covid) he has led the acquisition of a ‘mission aligned’ business in the United States therefore transforming their reach.
HealthNow is a company that combines a focus on making profit alongside purpose and social impact. You could say a new kind of company measuring success in different 'better world' ways.
HealthNow is a platform that allows customers distribute the cost of their healthcare and they subscribe to their future health needs via self-insurance through their digital health wallets. In addition, employers make tangible financial contributions to their employees’ healthcare with the aim of ensuring a healthy work force.
The platform breaks down healthcare costs into smaller bits, making those big health bills into smaller health bills, and making customers more amenable to the cost and out-of-pocket element.
Steven realised that it would be extremely difficult to bring about transformation in the direct healthcare sector using the brick-and-mortar model he tried first. That is why he founded HealthNow and launched the platform to work with existing healthcare service providers and companies within the healthcare space without the need for him to own any clinic.
In April 2022, HealthNow acquired CoverUs a prescription) discount business that has a network relationship with 62,000 pharmacies across the United States of America. They grant patients prescription discount coupons to them and thereby removing the barrier of prescription cost.
Steven shares the acquisition story and how the challenges were overcome mainly because ‘we were on the same page, two businesses aligned to the same mission of making healthcare more accessible by removing barriers. Described by Steven ‘as a relatively smooth business transaction’ that means Steven and his investors and advisors now have an American presence. Incredibly did not visit CoverUs’s Portland’s Headquarters at any time during the acquisition, in fact Steven has never been to the States not even as a tourist.