Virgin Pulse, the Framingham-based corporate wellness arm of Richard Branson's Virgin Group empire, announced Wednesday that it had raised $92 million.
The 11-year-old company has developed incentive programs for Coca-Cola, CBS, AOL, BP, and Zappos, but this is the first time it has raised funds. Chief executive Chris Boyce said the funding round will help support the company's international growth and allow it to continue to build its local team.
In the decade since Virgin Pulse was launched, it has become corporate gospel that healthy employees are better for the bottom line.
And over time, wellness plans have become more inventive and dynamic, with federal regulators recently approving the use of financial incentives to reward employees and nudge them toward better habits. The influx of wearable devices on the market has also allowed companies to pull information from their employees' fitness trackers and sync it with their preexisting programs.
That the market is increasingly crowded may explain why Virgin Pulse saw fit to raise money. The round was led by Insight Venture Partners of New York; two of its partners will join Virgin Pulse's board.
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"Insight is a fantastic partner. They bring a ton of B2B tech and SaaS experience, and those two strengths will make us a better company in the long term," Boyce said, referring to "business to business" and "software as a service" expertise.
Boyce said the funds will help Virgin Pulse rapidly expand its reach. The company would like to move beyond helping employees count steps and calories to offering programs on financial wellness. Boyce said he also hopes to draw on the reputation of the Virgin brand and bring Pulse programs to more international clients. The company employs 200 at its Framingham offices, and Boyce anticipates a larger team will help Virgin Pulse dive deeper into the data it has collected over time.
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The company currently serves 250 corporate clients and provides its services to 2 million users.
Janelle Nanos can be reached
at janelle.nanos@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @janellenanos.