Columbus-based Beam Dental, the fast-growing dental benefits provider, has raised $55 million in Series D funding led by Toronto PE firm Georgian Partners. Beam will use the funding to further accelerate its market expansion and to develop new product offerings.
The funding brings Beam’s total equity raised to $80 million.
The round also featured participation from Columbus-based venture capital firm, Drive Capital, which led Beam’s Series A round and participated in its Series B round. Beam's series C financing round was led by Kleiner Perkins, raising $22.5 million two years ago.
“Beam’s focus on delivering a market leading customer experience and their innovative use of technology and data is unique in the industry,” Georgian Partners parter Tyson Baber said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Beam as they continue to innovate and accelerate their growth in the dental insurance market.”
Beam Dental, founded in 2012, started out by selling Bluetooth-connected toothbrushes. The three co-founders Alex Curry, Alex Frommeyer and Dan Dykes, all engineers — soon discovered that 100 million Americans were without dental insurance. They connected their product with an end-to-end digital dental insurance purchasing platform, which uses data to provide individualized quotes to small and medium employers.
The company offers its dental plans, alongside vision insurance in partnership with VSP, in 27 states and expects to reach more than 90 percent of the U.S. population by the end of 2019.
Beam's plans are paired with the Bluetooth-enabled sonic Beam Brush along with toothpaste, floss and refill heads. After each brush, customers have the option to sync with Beam’s smartphone app, which grades their dental hygiene based on how well they’ve kept up with their routines. The better a group performs, the greater the cost savings on their monthly premiums.
“At Beam, we believe that we offer the best experience for employers and their dental care needs,” Beam CEO Alex Frommeyer said in a statement. "We’re excited to join the Georgian portfolio, which will be integral to us delivering on our mission and continuing our trajectory."
