Life insurance provider YuLife raises $70 million, puts life first

The business of life insurance isn’t exactly the most pleasant. It’s an industry based on providing a financial payout to loved ones upon your death. But what if instead of focusing on the end of days, a life insurance provider looked at, and encouraged, living better? That’s exactly what London's YuLife is doing, and has raised $70 million, with the ambition of developing new products, expanding its UK presence, and making inroads into new global markets.

By flipping the life insurance concept on its head YuLife is promoting a model that supports members, insurers, and employers collectively. Members have access to a suite of tools designed to improve their quality of life, insurers gain actionable data that allows them to de-risk individuals, and employers gain a programme that demonstrates a true commitment to employee wellbeing.

A typical YuLife policy includes everything you’d find in a traditional group life insurance policy but adds some “really nice to have” services including critical illness, income protection, virtual GP services, and counseling and coaching coverage.

Employing behavioural science, artificial intelligence and game mechanics YuLife gives employers a way to reward healthy living. Activities such as walking, cycling, and meditation can be translated into tangible perks including discounts and vouchers from Amazon, ASOS, and Avios. According to YuLife, these rewards lead to improved employee retention rates.

With the world having a collective, if yet unintended, re-think over the past 16 months, YuLife has seen more than 10x growth in Gross Written Premiums in the past year, a number that provides over $15 billion in coverage. Customers include household names including Capital One, Co-op, Curve, Havas Media, Severn Trent, and Sodexo.

“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,” comments CEO and tie-dyed t-shirt fan Sammy Rubin.

Target Global led the Series B round with new investors Eurazeo and Latitude participating. Existing investors Creandum, Notion Capital, Anthemis, MMC Ventures, and OurCrowd all followed on. With this raise, YuLife has a valuation of $275 million.

“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,” stated Target Global’s Ben Kaminski.