The tech-driven insurance company YuLife has announced that it has raised a $70M (~£50M) Series B in one of Europe’s largest insurtech funding rounds in life insurance. The round was led by Target Global and supported by new investors Eurazeo and Latitude as well as existing investors Creandum, Notion Capital, Anthemis, MMC Ventures, and OurCrowd. YuLife will use the capital to develop new products, expand its UK market penetration, and broaden its reach into new global markets.
Sammy Rubin, CEO and Founder of YuLife said: “The life insurance industry is ripe for transformation. For too many years, life insurance has focused solely on paying out a lump sum upon death. It is now time to reimagine the very nature of life insurance by putting ‘life’ first, and inspiring members to live their best lives every single day, using insurance as a tool to enhance their physical, mental and financial wellbeing,”
“Redefining group-life insurance is just the start of the journey for YuLife as we look to inspire life through a vast range of new insurance products.”
Re-imagining life insurance
YuLife sees itself as transforming traditional group life insurance into a suite of wellbeing and insurance products, pioneering a shift in the insurance industry towards a model that simultaneously supports members, insurers and employers.
YuLife’s life insurance includes everything in a traditional group life insurance policy – and adds critical illness, income protection, virtual GP services and employment assistance such as counselling and coaching.
YuLife also enables employers to reward healthy living by offering employees discounts and vouchers from leading brands including Amazon, ASOS, and Avios which can be purchased with YuCoin, YuLife’s virtual currency, earned by completing everyday wellness activities such as walking, cycling, meditation, and mindfulness. By incentivising healthy living, YuLife provides employers with a way to simultaneously boost retention rates, improve employees’ standard of living, and safeguard their loved ones’ financial future.
Prevention over cure
YuLife’s app harnesses behavioural science, artificial intelligence and game mechanics to provide members with an engaging service that aims to drive lasting healthy habits as well as providing HR insights for businesses.
“YuLife is redefining life insurance, using the most innovative technologies to transform a largely traditional industry,” said Ben Kaminski, Partner, Target Global. “With health and wellbeing increasingly thrust into the limelight in the wake of Covid-19, YuLife is fundamentally changing insurance by incentivising people to lead healthier lifestyles. YuLife is ideally positioned to build on its tenfold growth during the pandemic and lead the way in helping its clients respond to the challenges posed by an ever-changing working environment.”
Companies signed up to YuLife cover for employees and their families include Capital One, Co-op, Curve, Havas Media, Severn Trent, and Sodexo.
YuLife’s model is around using tech to incentivise healthy habits which ultimately de-risks the employee and the business. They aren’t the only provider incentivising healthy behaviours. Vitality do this too through their Private Medical Insurance. What’s new is linking this to group life insurance and rewards through a digital “coin” currency.
