Moderne Ventures backs Stride
San Francisco-based health insurance portal Stride Health announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount in additional funding from Moderne Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on companies innovating within real estate, mortgage, finance, insurance and home services. Moderne made this investment alongside a strategic partnership with its Moderne Passport program to work with Stride to deliver benefits to real estate professionals nationwide.
Founded in 2013, Stride’s benefits platform provides businesses, like real estate brokerages, with a turn-key solution to offer their independent contractors, part-time employees, and other non-benefited workers with access to health, dental, vision and life insurance, tools to track their income and expenses, and discounts on local goods and services. The benefits are accessible in a co-branded benefits hub and come at no cost to the business.
The company (a team of 40 people) has previously raised $39 million. Its co-founder and CTO Matt Butner left the company in April of last year, according to LinkedIn.
“Stride fills the benefits gap for the country’s real estate agents and can help brokers attract and retain top talent. Stride’s model, providing a free benefits solution to brokerages who want to help their agents get their own benefits, is a win for both the brokers and the agents, and we’re excited to be partnering with Stride on this important mission!” – Constance Freedman, Founder and Managing Partner of Moderne Ventures.
Real estate agents face unique challenges in navigating health insurance: today 30% buy their own individual health insurance while another 14% are left uninsured. In 2019, the average real estate agent’s average income was $49,700 and therefore a significant number of agents qualify for the Affordable Care Act premium subsidies available on Stride. Additionally, the average agent spends $6,290 each year on business expenses and can save thousands on tax deductions by leveraging Stride to track mileage and business expenses.
