Healthcare payments platform Burst bags $3 million including $2.1 million seed round led by Pear VC

Burst (formerly Float), a healthcare payments platform that helps retailers and wellness brands unlock FSA and HSA spending, has raised $3 million in total funding, including a $2.1 million seed round led by Pear VC with participation from Rock Health Capital, Alumni Ventures, and others.

The capital will accelerate product development and fuel partnerships with retailers, e-commerce brands, and plan administrators looking to capture more health spending.

"We can help activate more of your customers to look like your best segment," says Anthony Rangel, Co-founder and CEO at Burst. "HSA and FSA cardholders are already retailers' most loyal customers, returning often and spending more when they do. We eliminate the friction and empower consumers to use their pre-tax health benefits at your storefront."

Burst works entirely post-purchase. Retailers keep their existing payment stack, checkout flows, and tooling. Shoppers pay as they normally would with Apple Pay, credit cards, or loyalty rewards. After purchase, Burst identifies HSA/FSA eligible items, notifies customers of their savings opportunity, and files reimbursement claims automatically with their plan administrator.

The platform integrates through a Shopify app or API and works across every sales channel, including e-commerce, in-store PoS systems, telehealth platforms, and subscription services. For subscriptions, Burst supports Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN) issuance and helps enable automatic recurring reimbursements.

"Every attempt we've seen to unlock HSA and FSA spend requires merchants to change how they sell and customers to change how they buy,” says Ajay Kamat, Partner at Pear VC. “Burst flips that model by fitting into existing systems, turning reimbursement into an asset for retailers and making it effortless for customers to use their HSA and FSA funds. That’s what makes the platform scalable and gives it the potential to reshape how health spending actually flows."

"The FSA and HSA world has been historically fragmented and purposefully difficult to navigate," says Shubhi Jain, Co-founder abd Chief Product Officer at Burst. "We're building the abstraction layer that makes these accounts actually work for people, becoming the centre of their health and wellness spending without them having to think about it."

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Payments will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Thursday, 15th October.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.