CHICAGO, March 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chicago Pacific Founders, (“CPF”), a private equity firm focused exclusively on healthcare services, value-based care, AI and tech-enabled services, and caring for aging populations, announced its strategic investment in Nexben, an emerging innovator in health benefits today. The investment underscores CPF’s commitment to investing in transformative solutions that redefine what’s possible in healthcare.

After evaluating numerous opportunities across the market, CPF identified Nexben as the company best positioned to disrupt the status quo and drive meaningful, long-term change.

“Employers large and small are increasingly challenged in providing healthcare benefits that are both predictable and affordable from a cost perspective. The current system is clearly not working,” said Larry Leisure, co-founder of CPF. “Over the past three years, we’ve done an extensive review of the market, validating strong employer interest in a shift to defined contribution strategies enabled by ICHRA vehicles. Nexben emerged as the one platform that we viewed as ideally situated to be a winner in the market. Their vision, technology and execution were differentiating.”

Bringing together CPF’s operational expertise and market reach with Nexben’s agility, innovation, and bold thinking will help accelerate platform development, drive expansion into new markets, and better serve Nexben’s customers.

Ken Fasola, board chair at Nexben, emphasized the significance of CPF’s investment. “This investment is not about incremental improvement, it’s about transformation. Nexben addresses the long-standing problem of rising healthcare costs by offering a differentiated, cost-effective benefits solution that fixes employer liability, provides employee flexibility, and empowers the consumer,” said Fasola. “Nexben seeks to raise the bar for defined contribution and redefine the market as we know it. We are confident this partnership will create lasting impact.”

As part of the investment, Mark Smith, operating partner at CPF, has been appointed chief executive officer of Nexben. With decades of combined experience as an operating partner at CPF and in leadership roles at UnitedHealth Group, Smith was the clear choice to enable and empower the transition to a defined contribution universe.

“This is a pivotal moment,” said Smith. “Nexben’s strategic objective is to enable employers to regain control over healthcare spend. We’re the off-ramp for employers for runaway medical costs. And for employees, it’s about delivering precisely what they want, not just what they need.”

Chicago Pacific Founders’ investment was effective as of October 24, 2025. Additional details regarding expansion and future product initiatives will be shared in the coming months.

About Chicago Pacific Founders
Based in Chicago and San Francisco, Chicago Pacific Founders (“CPF”) is a leading strategic private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies within value-based care, healthcare services, AI and tech-enabled services, and caring for aging populations. CPF believes that the most significant societal impact and investment returns from healthcare for the next decade will be generated by investment in delivery model innovation. CPF’s leadership team is made up of former healthcare founders, senior executives, and investment professionals with a passion and track record of building healthcare businesses.

For more information about Chicago Pacific Founders, please visit www.cpfounders.com.

About Nexben
Nexben is a leading end-to-end benefits utility hub powering up defined contribution and ICHRA strategies. The organization’s turnkey enrollment and marketplace solution provides a seamless experience in administration, payments, and reconciliation, supporting the broker’s critical role throughout the entire consultative process.

For more information about Nexben, please visit nexben.com.

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