Picwell raises $4 million Series B led by Aflac’s venture arm

Center City-based Picwell, makers of a healthcare benefits recommendation platform, just added a $4 million Series B round to its war chest.

With backing from former investors BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners and Springfield, Mass.-based MassMutual, the round was led by Aflac Corporate Ventures, the small venture arm of Atlanta-based insurance provider Aflac.

Rob Bircher, the Bay Area–based VP of sales and marketing for Picwell, told Technical.ly the round will go to ramping up marketing efforts, growing the team and expanding the company’s product line to include a personalized recommendations for things like Health Savings Accounts (HSA).

Picwell was founded by a crew of University of Pennsylvania professors and a Wharton MBA in 2016, after raising a $7 million Series A round. In 2017, the company named a new CEO in Matthew Sydney, a former sales exec at Utah health savings company HealthEquity.

“He was brought in to reset the company,” Bircher said. “We’re trying to be the best in personalizing recommendations in healthcare benefits but I think that staying in that space alone just doesn’t get us there. It’s about diversifying where our potential customers need help and aligning to the buyer and potential enterprise customers. We want to give them a product that’s valuable to their customers.

The company employs 25 out of its Center City HQ, with some staff working remotely from D.C. and the Bay Area, like Bircher.