From left: Patrick O’Boyle, Luke Mackey and Deepak Baliga. Image: Kota
Liam Kennedy of Vitality, which has 1.7m UK customers, said that it will be easier for clients who have the Kota platform to access and update their health insurance.
Kota, the Irish employee benefits start-up, has announced a major expansion into the UK market after teaming up with health and life insurance provider Vitality.
The deal announced today (18 April) will support companies adopting group health insurance schemes with Vitality to allow employers to enrol, manage and bill within the Kota platform.
With more than 1.7m customers in the UK, Vitality is a significant player in the health and life insurance space. Headquartered in London, the company is a subsidiary of South Africa-based financial services group Discovery Limited.
As a result of the latest partnership, HR and finance teams will be able to view and manage Vitality group medical schemes within the Kota system, bringing the platform a step closer to its mission of becoming a one-stop-shop for employee benefits.
Formerly known as Yonder, the SiliconRepublic.com Start-up of the Week rebranded itself in October last year, when it raised €5m in a seed round led by EQT Ventures.
Kota was founded by Luke Mackey, Deepak Baliga and Patrick O’Boyle, all three of whom featured in the technology section of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list published last week.
Mackey, who previously founded food ordering app Bamboo, said that the latest deal marks the start-up’s further expansion into the UK and European market. “For too long HR managers and employees have had to deal with frustrating and cumbersome processes to enable easy access to core benefits,” he said.
“We have been working closely with Vitality to deliver a powerful employer and employee experience that changes the game for benefits management. Kota is the first to market with its one-stop hub, which empowers remote and distributed companies to control their benefits and protect their teams in one place.”
Liam Kennedy, director of key accounts at Vitality, said that partnering with Kota makes it easier for clients who have the platform to access and update their health insurance.
“Through our insurance, organisations can have access to a wide range of health and wellbeing support to enable them to prioritise and positively impact employee health and the productivity of their workforce, alongside providing access to healthcare when they need it.”
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