Farewill
 | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Founded | 24 July 2015 in London, England |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | 27 Downham Rd, Dalston, London , England |
Area served | United Kingdom |
| Services | |
| Owner | Dignity Group |
Number of employees | 84+[1] |
| Website | farewill |
Farewill is a subsidiary of Dignity Group that provides will-writing, probate, and cremation services in the UK. The company was founded in 2015 and is registered in England and Wales with the Law Society.[2]
History
[edit]Farewill was founded in 2015 by Dan Garrett and Tom Rogers. Garrett was inspired to start the company after designing products for elderly residents in a care home in Tokyo.[3] He later organized funerals and gained a qualification in will writing, which led to the founding of Farewill.[4]
In 2016, Tracy Doree, an angel investor and founder of venture capital firm Kindred Capital, joined Farewill as its chairperson.[5]
Services
[edit]Farewill offers will-writing (online and over the phone), a direct cremation service, a probate service, and a subscription-based will-update service. The company stated in 2020 that users could complete an online will in 15 minutes for £90, with an additional £10 per year for unlimited updates.[6] Direct cremations started from £980.[7]
In response to concerns about data privacy, in 2016 Farewill stated that user data was stored on Amazon's Secure Storage Service in Ireland and encrypted using AES-256 encryption.[8]
In 2019, Farewill was named the National Will Writing Firm of the Year.[9]
Charity partnerships
[edit]Farewill has partnered with 50 UK charities, including Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation, Macmillan, The Royal British Legion, and Christian Aid.[10] The charities provide access to the will-writing service to encourage bequests to their organizations.
Funding and acquisition
[edit]Farewill has undergone several funding rounds. In January 2019, the company raised £7.5 million in a series A round.[11] In July 2020 Farewill raised £20 million in a series B round led by Highland Europe, with a valuation of £70 million.[12] This funding was intended to expand and improve their services across the UK.[13]
In 2023, Farewill crowdfunded at a valuation of £25,775,000, a reduction from the 2020 valuation.[14]
Farewill was acquired by funeral services provider Dignity in October 2024 for £12.9 million in stock.[15] The deal was described by Tech Crunch as "a fire sale by just about any estimation".[16]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Farewill". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ↑ "Farewill Limited". The Law Society. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ↑ Symcox, Jonathan (2020-07-08). "£20m investment for death tech start-up". Business Cloud. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ↑ Whitfield, Nick (2018-01-15). "Farewill Q&A — Dan Garrett, Farewill CEO". Kyan (Interview). Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ↑ "Tracy Doree". AngelList. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ↑ Scammell, Robert (2020-07-08). "Will-writing startup Farewill raises £20m to tackle funeral poverty". VERDICT. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ↑ "Simple Cremations". MaxLyte. Archived from the original on 2020-07-11. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ↑ Lomas, Natasha (2016-11-21). "UK startup Farewill wants to give will-writing a web-based makeover". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ↑ "Night Of Celebration At The British Wills and Probate Awards". 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ↑ May, Melanie (2019-01-22). "Online will-writing service Farewill completes £7.5m capital raise". UK Fundraising.
- ↑ Adler, Timothy (2019-01-22). "Will-writing disruptor Farewill raises £8m from Daily Mail and others". Growth Business. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ↑ Heathman, Amelia (2020-07-08). "Farewill: the funeral and will-writing start-up on a mission to change how we deal with death". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ↑ Musgrove, Annie (2020-07-08). "London-based Farewill gets £20 million to modernise UK's death care industry". Tech.eu. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2022-11-04. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ↑ "Dignity Acquires Farewill - 07:00:00 17 Oct 2024 - CGL News article | London Stock Exchange". www.londonstockexchange.com. 17 October 2024. Archived from the original on 2025-08-27. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
- ↑ Sawers, Paul (2024-10-17). "UK digital 'end-of-life' services startup Farewill acquired for $16.8M". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2025-08-27. Retrieved 2025-08-27.