Life insurance tech start-up LifeBid has successfully completed a $1.45 million equity funding round.
Founded by life insurance professionals Brett Wright and Jeremy Wright, LifeBid is an Australian tech company that aims to make life insurance fairer and more efficient by developing an end-to-end technology platform that enables advisers to seamlessly engage with, educate, and advise their clients and manage their life insurance needs.
The funding round exceeded LifeBid's initial minimum target of $1 million, including $820,000 from crowdfunding investors. It also saw 147 new investors, with support mainly coming from the life insurance and financial advice sectors, including some of Australia's largest advisory practices.
LifeBid will use the funds raised to develop and launch the LifeBid platform, with stage 1 renewals capability expected to be launched around Q2/Q3 2024. Its industry working group and partners include TAL, Zurich, MLC, PPS Mutual, and NEOS.
“We are excited by the overwhelming support we've received from our new investors, and this capital raise marks a significant milestone for LifeBid and further validates the industry support and market demand for what we are building. We look forward to the journey ahead and the incredible opportunities it holds for our industry colleagues, stakeholders, and Australians who benefit immensely from access to quality life insurance advice and products,” Wright said. “Completing a crowdfunding campaign as part of our fundraise made it possible for the wider-life insurance advice sector and investor community to be a part of LifeBid’s journey, which was really important for us and the success of the raise highlights the appreciation of the value LifeBid is creating within our industry.”
LifeBid also received support from holistic financial planning businesses in the recent funding round, including Invest Blue, which currently has more than 300 employees, including 128 advisers around Australia.
Steve Sewell, head of strategic partnerships and business development at Invest Blue, highlighted the company's commitment to investing in partnerships that enable it to provide great advice to Australians.
“We see the protection of wealth through quality risk advice and solutions as fundamental to empowering our clients to live their best possible lives. There is room for improvement in this space for both advice firms and clients, and we are excited to support this innovative solution,” Sewell said.
