Death is scary. It’s often an uncomfortable topic, yet the need for funeral services is universal. Against all odds, one fintech company in the United Kingdom has grown a successful business in this grim niche. Here is the surprising success story of Farewill.
What Is Farewill?
Established in London, the UK, in 2015, Farewill is a tech company in the funeral, will, and probate industry. In particular, this fintech provides affordable ways to create a will and verify it after death. In addition, Farewill can also help families and individuals book a cremation.
The concept for the will-writing firm came to founders Dan Garrett and Tom Rogers after the former’s work on similar services for the elderly in Japan. Upon his return to the United Kingdom, Garrett expanded his expertise by working as a funeral agent before coming up with the idea of running his own company.
Farewill aims to replace some of the more traditional ways of handling death and preparing a legal will. Thanks to Garrett’s previous experience in the death industry, he saw first-hand that people find it difficult to deal with funerals. Even going to a funeral office might be a lot for the family and loved ones of the deceased person. That is why having an online way to set everything up from the comfort of one’s home proved to be such a successful venture.
The emotional impact of death aside, people face another challenge in will planning. Traditionally, lawyers handle the preparation and verification of wills. But the service of a solicitor is often expensive, making will-writing inaccessible to many people.
Moreover, sometimes legal professionals are fully booked or unavailable in rural areas. A digital solution like Farewill can solve that problem and improve access to legal services.
Recognising that many of its clients might be elderly and not feel comfortable with using the app or website, Farewill also provides its services over the phone.
Thus, even though the company’s location is in London at N1 5AA, anyone can use it from the comfort of their own home.
More on Dan Garrett
The mind behind Farewill Dan Garrett comes from a diverse background himself. He initially obtained a degree in Design from the Royal College of Art before pursuing Structural Engineering and Global Innovation Design at Oxford and Imperial College London, respectively. He is also qualified to write wills from before he established Farewill.
How Was Farewill Established?
After they had a concrete idea of what they wanted to achieve with Farewill, Garrett and Rogers went through a seed funding round in 2016. This is how angel investor Tracy Doree from Kindred Capital (a venture capital company) noticed Farewill and joined the executive team. Aside from Garrett, Rogers, and Doree, Farewill has a fourth director — Augmented Fintech’s Tim Levene.
Despite being around for only a few years, Farewill has risen in popularity. According to company estimates, Farewill handles about 10% of all British wills.
Farewill owes much of its success to the affordability of its services. Writing a will using this fintech costs just £90. Google searches indicate that for an additional £10 per year, clients can edit their will whenever they decide.
Furthermore, cremations organised using Farewill cost about one-third the national average for the same service in the United Kingdom.
People also have access to Farewill services via the company’s many charity partners and other organisations in England.
The Potential of Fintech
The company we just introduced is just one example of how financial technology can change our lives for the better. The fintech industry is full of similar success stories, where innovators have noticed room for improvement in the things we do daily.
Other burgeoning businesses in fintech include digital banks, insurance companies, and even blockchain networks. Indeed, cryptocurrencies, DEXs, dApps — all of these crypto companies also belong to the same field. Strange as it may seem, Farewill and crypto have more in common than you think.
What’s the next big thing in fintech going to be? Who’s to say? New tech startups pop up left and right, some more eccentric than others. One thing’s for sure — it’s a great time for fintech, and an even better time to freshen up your investment portfolio.
Discover other original and successful fintech companies in our latest Fintech50 list.
Disclaimer
Financial investment may pose a risk to your capital. This article does not constitute or substitute professional investment advice. Please consult a professional before committing to an investment. Never spend more money than you can comfortably lose.
