YuLife initially made a reputation for itself in its dwelling market of the U.Okay. for its new method to the provisioning of life insurance coverage: sure, promote a coverage that gives monetary safety to your folks within the occasion of your demise; however achieve this with a deal with enhancing the policyholder’s present life with wellness alternatives, and encourage use of that with gamification — a mannequin that not solely is geared toward benefitting the policyholders extra, however will increase engagement on the platform and gives a complementary income for YuLife, which gives offers on the wellness companies.
Its thought took off — it’s now utilized by greater than 500 companies, together with Co-op, Del Monte, Jaguar Land Rover, Santander and CapitalOne, which in flip present plans to their workers, considered one of three of whom interact on the app each day. On the heels of that, now the corporate is saying that it has raised $120 million to broaden the idea. At this time, YuLife covers group life insurance coverage, important sickness safety and revenue safety, however it’s now quickly increasing to new classes like dental and well being, in addition to monetary companies (pensions being one instance of a class that has a powerful affinity with life insurance coverage), in addition to to new markets just like the U.S.
The funding, a Collection C, is bringing a brand new strategic investor on board, Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Insurance coverage Firm, which is main the spherical, together with participation from earlier traders Creandum, LocalGlobe, Goal World, Latitude, Anthemis, OurCrowd, Notion, MMC and Eurazeo.
CEO and co-founder Sammy Rubin tells us that this newest fundraise values the corporate at $800 million. For some context on that determine, when YuLife extra not too long ago raised cash earlier than this — a Collection B of $70 million in 2021 — it was valued at $346 million.
That may be a respectable leap contemplating the present local weather. Many tech firms are discovering it arduous to lift rounds, and when they’re doing so valuations are positively getting buttoned down (and in various instances seeing down-rounds). And insuretech particularly is certainly not being spared: on the heels of a increase in the course of the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, insurance coverage know-how funding in Q1 2022 was 50% decrease than a 12 months in the past, and Q2 is shaping as much as be even slower, in response to analysis from Dealroom.
A part of the explanation for YuLife’s bump is that the corporate itself has continued to develop by the slowdown.
Rubin tells me that its prospects — it sells solely on to organizations in a B2B mannequin, who in flip present life insurance coverage their workers as a part of bigger advantages applications — have grown 4X within the final 12 months (not as many because the 12 months earlier than, which was 10X, however nonetheless rising), with revenues up five-fold, and protection now totaling $50 billion, versus $15 billion a 12 months in the past. Near 50% of its prospects are new to the platform, he stated, and in doing so is increasing the scope of these which can be contemplating it as a worthwhile profit for his or her workers.
“These are firms that had by no means had life insurance coverage earlier than,” Rubin stated, noting that they’re attracted not simply “by the entire life insurance coverage profit, however the holistic platform round it.”
That holistic platform is an fascinating twist on the essential idea of what life insurance coverage could be about.
The app is constructed by veterans of the gaming business and is designed across the idea of various pure environments resembling forest and mountains, which YuLife collectively phrases its “Yuniverse.”
Inside every of those environments, customers are inspired to stroll, cycle, meditate and do different actions to get round their environments in a wholesome means, whereas on the similar time having the ability to evaluate their progress towards different co-workers. As with plenty of gaming as of late, is a level of personalization in everybody’s expertise: one individual leaning into one exercise over one other appears to supply completely different subsequent eventualities.
Together with this, customers are provided reductions on third-party merchandise to additional interact with the sport inside YuLife, which might embrace a subscription to meditation app Calm, FitBit and Garmin gadgets, and extra. As customers make their means by their worlds, they get rewards, within the type of one thing known as YuCoins. The YuCoins can in flip be used to redeem vouchers from the likes of Amazon and Asos.
Group life insurance coverage, Rubin stated, is the corporate’s flagship product and accounts for over 80% of revenues. Its different merchandise — at the moment important sickness, revenue safety and dental — account for the opposite 20%. Its revenues, he added, are attributed to the sale of insurance coverage insurance policies. “Our insurance coverage insurance policies are holistic and embrace the wellness ingredient,” he stated.
Wellness in itself is a large alternative — value some $1.5 trillion in 2021 in response to McKinsey estimates — and whilst you can see a powerful affinity between how that is likely to be oriented round a life insurance coverage product, and certainly a medical insurance product, it is going to be fascinating to see how YuLife tailors the idea to other forms of insurance coverage, and to different merchandise resembling monetary companies. Rubin famous that proper now one of many perks within the dental product is a free electrical toothbrush for every new person (though customers nonetheless need to pay to exchange the heads).
By way of the opposite means that YuLife might develop, Rubin added that it has “no plans” to develop into a D2C product, however to proceed promoting by firms. This continues to set it aside from the broader wave of insurtechs, which have largely disrupted the incumbent market by enhancing accessibility to getting insurance coverage within the first place.
AIG, Met Life and Zurich are YuLife’s present underwriters within the U.Okay. and Rubin stated the corporate is at the moment negotiating with underwriters and different companions for its U.S. launch. Dai-chi Life does have operations within the U.S. market — amongst different actions it owns Protecting Life — however Rubin stated the strategic ingredient of this funding isn’t geared toward that, however fairly a longer-term plan additionally to broaden into Japan.
“Dai-ichi Life is dedicated to supporting firms which have a confirmed observe file of fixing folks’s lives for the higher, and YuLife does precisely that, by bringing tangible worth to monetary merchandise to bolster people’ wellbeing,” stated Toshiaki Sumino, director and managing government officer at Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc., in an announcement. “YuLife has immense potential to construct on its achievements thus far, and we’re thrilled to take a position and assist propel YuLife in direction of its subsequent steps and scale its international operations. YuLife shares our ethos of harnessing the newest traits in know-how to make a real distinction to the lives of these utilizing monetary merchandise.”
