Alphabet-backed Oscar Health files for IPO as telehealth market booms

(Reuters) - Oscar Health, a health insurance start-up backed by Google parent Alphabet Inc, filed for an initial public offering on Friday, looking to cash in on the surge in demand for digital health services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New York-based company, which has about 529,000 users, enables scheduling physician visits, checking lab results, emergency virtual appointments and prescription refill through its mobile app or online platform.

Oscar Health was founded in 2012 by Mario Schlosser, Kevin Nazemi, who is no longer a part of the company, and Josh Kushner, brother of former U.S. President Donald Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The COVID-19 pandemic has supercharged the telemedicine market and more companies are looking to expand their scale and offerings as healthcare moves to the virtual realm.

Oscar Health's stock market launch comes as U.S. capital markets are poised for another banner year, with January's IPO haul totaling $33.9 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

The digital insurance startup said it would list its Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "OSCR". (https://bit.ly/39U4MdA)

The company's other investors include venture capital firm General Catalyst Group, Fidelity Investments parent FMR LLC, Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, investment firm Thrive Capital and Khosla Ventures.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Morgan Stanley and Allen & Company LLC are lead underwriters for the offering.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)