Bentonville startup raises $25 million

Soda Health, a healthcare technology company based in Bentonville, announced on Sept. 13 that it had raised $25 million in Series A funding.

Lightspeed Venture Partners, Define Ventures and Qiming Venture Partners led the round. With the latest round, Soda Health has raised $31 million since its launch in 2021.

Led by Robby Knight, co-founder and CEO, Soda Health aims to disrupt the supplemental benefits system with a technology platform that allows health plans to reimburse for goods and services not supported by traditional medical claims.

With the company’s offering, consumers can use a health plan debit card to purchase healthy foods, over-the-counter medications and transportation services related to social determinants of health. Soda Health defers the cost of the cards until the benefits are redeemed rather than charging health plans upon distribution.

“Supplemental benefits today are offered in a patchwork, disconnected, and inefficient manner,” Knight said. “The funding is there, the desire to help people is there, but the infrastructure necessary to connect these disparate pieces doesn’t exist. With today’s funding, Soda Health will build the bridges to connect members to personalized benefits available through their plans and with retailers where they can use those benefits.”

Soda Health’s founding team has experience in retail, healthcare and technology. Knight, Daryl Risinger (president and chief growth officer) and Jared Dauman (head of operations) all previously worked in leadership positions for Walmart Inc. Risinger also previously worked for Humana Inc. subsidiary Concentra.

CTO Chris Brown was previously a VP of digital wellness platform company Rally Health, which UnitedHealthcare acquired in 2017.

Soda Health had 32 full-time employees as of Sept. 12. They have several starting in the upcoming weeks.