Cigna does not want to sit on the sidelines of the digital health revolution. Quite the contrary, it aims to bring its support for new technology development to a new level and is launching its corporate venture arm, Cigna Ventures.

The healthcare giant has committed $250 million of capital to Cigna Ventures to invest in promising startups and growth-stage companies that are “unlocking new growth possibilities in healthcare and will bring improved care quality, affordability, choice, and greater simplicity to customers and clients.” Cigna Ventures is focused on companies across three strategic areas: insights and analytics; digital health and retail; and care delivery/management.

“The venture fund will enable us to drive innovation beyond our existing core business operations, and incubate new ideas, opportunities and relationships that have the potential for long-term business growth and to help our customers,” said Tom Richards, senior vice president and global lead, strategy and business development at Cigna.

Cigna said that it create a venture arm to identify, assess and sponsor early-stage innovation ideas that warrant deeper exploration through focused pilot and test-and-learn activities with the goal of “realizing meaningful business value.”

Cigna Ventures builds on the company’s existing venture activity, including collaboration with five venture capital partners and an equal number of existing direct investments. These include leading the C1 round of financing with Omada Health, investments in Prognos, Contessa Health, MDLIVE and Cricket Health.

Commenting on the news, Omada’s CEO and co-founder Sean Duffy said: “The ability to collaborate with, learn from, and integrate deeply with a health services company so dedicated to delivering a 21st-century care experience to its customers and clients has enabled us to accelerate innovation, advance our capabilities, and grow our customer base.”