Insurtech Bestow lands $120M Series D from Goldman Sachs, Smith Point Capital

Melbourne O’Banion co-founded insurtech Bestow with Jonathan Abelmann in 2017 after struggling to safe his personal life insurance coverage coverage.

His objective was to make it simpler for individuals to acquire life insurance coverage and make the method extra tech-enabled.

Initially, Bestow operated as a direct-to-consumer insurance coverage supplier — promoting, underwriting, and servicing life insurance coverage insurance policies. In these first few years, the startup processed over one million functions. Its no-exam underwriting platform gained traction in the course of the COVID pandemic as conventional medical exams had been paused. Because it grew its D2C enterprise, Bestow in parallel developed software program to assist modernize the entire course of. 

Recognizing the worth in that software program, Bestow in 2024 offered its insurance coverage service and shopper enterprise to Sammons Monetary Group for an undisclosed quantity. It switched its focus to offering its software program and companies to different life insurance coverage firms so these firms may “turn out to be extra digital” and thus, extra effectively serve their prospects.

And on Tuesday, the Dallas-based firm is saying that it has raised $120 million in Collection D funding to launch new merchandise and underwriting capabilities, it has instructed TechCrunch solely. The fundraise, which O’Banion described as “oversubscribed,” was a mixture of $75 million in major and $45 million in secondary investments. 

Goldman Sachs Alternate options’ Development Fairness and ex-Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block’s Smith Level Capital co-led the funding. Along with the fairness financing, Bestow additionally secured a $50 million credit score facility from TriplePoint Capital. O’Banion declined to disclose Bestow’s valuation, noting solely that it had “roughly doubled” because the firm raised $70 million in a Collection C spherical in December 2020. With this newest financing, Bestow has raised greater than $300 million in fairness funding so far.

O’Banion additionally declined to disclose arduous income figures, saying that Bestow’s annual recurring income grew 3x in 2024, and “10x” over the past two years. Its income mannequin is enterprise SaaS (software-as-a-service) and performance-based. The majority of its income comes from utilization charges.