 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Founded | July 24, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-07-24) in London, England |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | 27 Downham Rd, Dalston, London, England |
| Area served | United Kingdom |
| Services | |
| Number of employees | 84+ |
| Website | farewill |
Farewill is a private company based in London 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. In 2019, it was named the National Will Writing Firm of the Year.
History
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. He later organized funerals and gained a qualification in will writing, which led to the founding of Farewill.
In 2016, Tracy Doree, an angel investor and founder of venture capital firm Kindred Capital, joined Farewill as its Chairperson.
Services
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 claims that users can complete an online will in 15 minutes for £90, with an additional £10 per year for unlimited updates. Direct cremations start from £980.
In response to concerns about data privacy, Farewill stated that user data is stored on Amazon's Secure Storage Service in Ireland and encrypted using AES-256 encryption.
Charity Partnerships
Farewill has partnered with 50 UK charities, including Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation, Macmillan, The Royal British Legion, and Christian Aid. The charities provide access to the will-writing service to encourage bequests to their organizations.
Funding and Investors
Farewill has undergone several funding rounds. In January 2019, the company raised £7.5 million in a series A round. On July 8, 2020, Farewill raised £20 million in a series B round led by Highland Europe, with a valuation of £70 million. This funding was intended to expand and improve their services across the UK.
In 2023, Farewill crowdfunded at a valuation of £25,775,000, a reduction from the 2020 valuation.
Farewill was acquired by funeral services provider Dignity in October 2024 for £12.9 million in stock. The deal was described by Tech Crunch as "a fire sale by just about any estimation".
References
- "Farewill". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- "Farewill Limited". The Law Society. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- "Night Of Celebration At The British Wills and Probate Awards". 2019-10-18. 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. 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.
- 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.
- https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/farewill/pitches/q4Mapl