AV8 is no stranger to Myong Lee and Clever Care. We have been tracking the company ever since they raised their Series A in 2020. As any healthcare investor likely knows, Medicare Advantage (MA) is a $300B+ market that has more than doubled over the past decade. In addition to our continued interest in the MA segment, we were also building the thesis that just as care delivery is becoming verticalized (see our prior post on Care Models here), so will the underwriting of risk. Health plans that have a personalized approach to plan design and provider networks that address the differentiated needs of their population will be successful.

It soon became clear to us that the Clever Care model was exactly what we were looking for. Clever care is a culturally sensitive MA health plan that offers a combination of Western clinical-based medicine integrated with Eastern methodologies. The value of this approach became obvious when I looked at my own father. His peer group has a fundamentally different approach to healthcare, which includes prioritization of natural health and traditional medicine approaches like acupuncture, herbal supplements and meditation over surgery, medications, and nursing homes. They usually struggle to find quality practitioners of traditional medicine, and also end up paying out of pocket for these services. Imagine if his health plan integrated natural and traditional medicine as a key component of their wellness plan, in addition to offering in-language options, and ethnic physician integration.

We have been extremely impressed with the pace at which the Clever Care team has been able to set up a fully operational MA health plan in order to go live in Southern California in January 2021. They have also built an extensive network of more than 15,000 provider facilities and 58 leading hospitals to provide quality care for their members. Myong’s prior experience at Clover Health, Satellite Health Plan, and Agilon clearly makes him the dynamic leader and entrepreneur he is. We learn from him with each interaction.

With this financing, we are excited to partner with Clever Care in their journey towards the 2022 Annual Enrollment Period and beyond as they become the industry leader in offering a culturally sensitive health plan to Medicare eligibles.