US-based online life insurer Bestow has completed a $50m series B round featuring insurance holding company Sammons Financial, it has disclosed.
Valar Ventures led the round, which was also backed by fellow venture capital firms Morpheus Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and Core Innovation Capital. It was closed in February this year but only revealed late last week.
Bestow provides life insurance to customers through an online platform and also supplies its software to traditional life insurers to help them sell to customers online.
The company recently launched a non-profit organisation known as Bestow Foundation, through which it intends to assist families in need of financial support after disasters, while also raising awareness of life insurance.
Jonathan Abelmann, Bestow’s co-founder and president, said: “Insurance is by definition a preventative product, and leveraging technology to democratise access to financial protection is social empowerment.
“We aim to help ensure that every life is protected and valued, especially in the face of the unexpected. That’s why the foundation is so complementary to our mission.”
The round brought Bestow’s overall funding to $67.5m since it was founded in 2016, NEA having led a $2.5m seed round in 2017 that also featured Core Innovation Capital, Morpheus Ventures and 8VC.
The company subsequently added $15m in a May 2018 series A round led by Valar Ventures that included all its seed-stage investors.
