Exclusive: Empathy raises $72 million Series C to tackle the agonizing logistics of death
Ron Gura doesn't use the word 'death' every day.
'From a chemistry perspective, we tune out when we hear the word death, because death is our biggest denial. Nobody wants to contemplate their own self-mortality,' says Gura, a longtime entrepreneur who sold his previous company The Gifts Project to eBay.
And yet Gura's latest startup is inextricably entwined with the dreaded D-word and the subject most people would rather not talk about. The common fear of mortality ('Nobody wants to admit that we're just ants playing around with fear and greed—yielding stuff, selling stuff, buying stuff, and ending up leaving, just like the others,' Gura tells me in a philosophical moment) is in fact one of the reasons Gura's startup, Empathy, may be so necessary.
Empathy is all about using technology to make it easier for people to deal with the most difficult moments in life, such as the death of a loved one. While there are plenty of people and services to soothe the emotional difficulties of the moment, Empathy focuses on the logistical headaches.
As anyone who has had to face the loss of a loved one can attest, death brings with it a ferocious maze of estate planning, probate processes, funeral expenses, and financial settlements—all suddenly dumped into the laps of grief-stricken and frequently unprepared family or friends.
It's a durational agony: It takes the average person 15 months to tie off the various loose ends and logistical tasks of a deceased loved one's affairs, according to research conducted by Empathy and presented in a report bearing the coldly analytical title Cost of Dying. If the person handling the tasks is the executor of the estate, the number becomes 18 months, the report says.
'Our job is to make loss less hard for more people every day,' said Gura, who cofounded the company and serves as CEO. 'We think it's the largest consumer sector that is still untouched by innovation, specifically in software.'
Founded in 2020, Empathy has raised a $72 million Series C, Fortune has exclusively learned. Adams Street Partners led the round, with participation from General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Entrée Capital, Brewer Lane Ventures, SemperVirens, Latitude, and LionTree. Additionally, in a striking move, Aflac, Allianz, Citi, Munich Re, MetLife, New York Life, Securian, and TIAA also invested in the company's Series C—all are also part of the just-unveiled Empathy Alliance, a coalition of organizations partnering with Empathy to improve technology around both death and crises in life.
Insurer partnerships are key, said Joel Cutler, cofounder of General Catalyst, via email: 'Empathy is helping insurers build longer term, generational relationships, providing a better customer experience, and as such Empathy is building long-term, deep relationships with the insurers as well.' In recent years, Empathy has expanded throughout the U.S. and Canada, and is now part of the employee benefits programs for Fortune 500 companies like AT&T and Paramount.
This approach could expand to other markets characterized by impossibly difficult moments in life, Gura suggested but declined to disclose specifics.
Currently, Empathy's products are focused around loss support and legacy planning, with an app that guides families through bereavement tasks as AI-powered tools automate tasks around documents. 'Let machines do what machines do best—refilling information, calculating financials, setting reminders, and customizing very robust to-dos and care plans,' Gura told Fortune. 'You shouldn't be calling Verizon to explain you don't have the passwords and the credentials. You shouldn't worry if your funeral director is trying to rip you off. You shouldn't feel alone at 2 AM.'
There are many obvious questions here. Where does tech belong in a grieving process—and where is it invasive? What prevents this from becoming a dystopian nightmare?
In part, it's that matter of tech doing what it does best, so humans can focus on what's purely human. And when it comes to data privacy, Gura said that Empathy has taken particular care: The company doesn't share individual personal information with clients, only provides aggregated demographic information, and personal emotional details remain strictly confidential, he told Fortune.
And Empathy gets at something true: When a loved one dies, people don't know what to do, emotionally or logistically.
No one knows the right thing to say. Tertiary people and problems dominate your days. You spend a lot of time on phone calls, informing people—and still receive more of those phone calls anyway. You worry about funeral costs. You get flowers in the mail, that soon wilt and die themselves. Condolences aren't helpful, sometimes nothing is. But genuine affection and a casserole dish of lasagna come close. Sometimes, the most valuable help is simple logistical assistance.
Gura, who knows something about loss, is building a business around the gone and the living—because to think about death is, ultimately, to think about life. Your own, and others.
'If you imagine yourself right now, God forbid, on your last day,' said Gura. 'I'm 90, I'm surrounded by my daughters, my grandkids, and my wife. The house is tidy and nice. I had a great meal—lobster rigatoni, and we had wine. I didn't wake up from my nap. Perfect. Now, what happens the second after I'm gone?'
See you tomorrow,
Allie GarfinkleX: @agarfinksEmail: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.comSubmit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here.
Nina Ajemian curated the deals section of today's newsletter. Subscribe here.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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