AIA’s Amplify Health acquires AI startup AiDA, plans hiring spree

AMPLIFY Health, an healthtech set up by AIA, has fully acquired artificial intelligence (AI) startup AiDA Technologies as it looks to expand its team by hundreds of staff by the end of 2023.

The value of the deal, which was all-cash, was undisclosed.

Singapore-based AiDA was founded in 2016 by Tan Geok Leng, Shonali Krishnaswamy, Sivakumar Viswanathan and Tam Nguyen, a team of data scientists from the InfoComm Research Institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

AiDA’s machine-learning technologies help companies automate underwriting and claims processing, and detect fraud, waste and abuse. It has over a dozen clients including leading insurers and financial institutions in the region, said Tan, the chief executive of AiDA.

The company has 30 full-time employees. It raised a total of US$5.2 million in equity funding from investors such as Mastercard, Kuok Ventures and SGInnovate, according to data platform VentureCap Insights.

AiDA was last valued at US$21.7 million in August last year, said the platform; the sum was a dip from the startup’s 2019 valuation.

Axel Baur, deputy chief executive of Amplify Health, told The Business Times: “Dr Tan brings a fabulous set of people into Amplify Health; part of this transaction has also been about tapping into a great set of individuals within the organisation… as talent is one of the biggest assets in the region.”

Baur added that the company will be selectively partnering with AiDA in areas where AiDA is distinctive, such as advanced analytics.

Amplify Health is doubling down on expansion as healthcare expenditure across markets where AIA operates is set to exceed US$4 trillion in 2030.

Despite an overall slowdown in the global economy, digital healthcare adoption has accelerated in recent years, driven by the pandemic and a rising need to address shifting demographics and consumer expectations.

Amplify Health intends to grow its team from around 200 to around 600 by the end of this year. It will primarily recruit engineers and data science experts, with several positions to be filled in its Singapore headquarters.

The company was launched in February 2022 with a focus on the Asia-Pacific. It is working on solutions for data analytics, claims, benefit and policy administration, medical cost optimisation and customer engagement.

A joint venture 75 per cent owned by AIA and 25 per cent owned by South African financial services player Discovery Group was formed for Asia, excluding China, Hong Kong and Macau. The rest of the business comprises an entity wholly owned by AIA for the three markets.

“Amplify Health’s formation is bringing technology to a sector that, in most parts of Asia, is between 3 and 5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP),” said Baur. “If you compare this to the Western world where healthcare (spending) is between 8 and 17 per cent of GDP, it’s a massive opportunity to grow.”

Amplify Health is rolling out its solutions in five out of the 15 markets in which it operates – Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

The solutions comprise claims processing and administration systems, integrated digital health programmes to manage chronic disease and private medical insurance product development.