Insurtech startup LifeBid has launched a crowdfunding (CSF) campaign with venture-backed platform Stride Equity, having already raised $700,000 in a strategic co-investment from industry partners and the Stride Group.
LifeBid is the first startup Stride Equity has backed with investment since its launch earlier this year and is the first CSF campaign on the platform. Stride’s crowdfunding platform only hosts companies it has pre-qualified as meet the criteria for co-investment by the VC side of the business.
The insurtech startup is hoping to transform the way life insurance advice is provided and managed. LifeBid’s digital platform has been developed to enable the 16,000 financial advice providers and insurers nationally to engage, educate, advise and manage the life insurance needs of clients, while cutting the costs of servicing them by up to 90%.
LifeBid currently has a waitlist of 2,000 Australian advisers for its platform and founder Brett Wright comes from that side of the industry, setting out to solve a familiar problem.
“As advisers ourselves, and like many others in the life insurance sector, we have seen how expensive it has become for consumers to access good quality advice and cover, and experienced how hard, unprofitable and risky it has become for advisers, licensees and insurers to help more Australians,” he said.
“We want our adviser and licensee industry colleagues to be owners, beneficiaries and the driving force behind LifeBid. Partnering with the Stride team in this crowdfunding offer will make this possible and we are excited to be their first portfolio company.”
Stride Equity CEO Maria Halasz said they’re pleased that LifeBid if their first investment and the first portfolio company on their crowdfunding platform.
“LifeBid is the perfect example of the type of businesses we look to fund; it has experienced and passionate founders who set out to solve an urgent unmet need in an underserved industry by providing an innovative technology solution that is highly scalable,” she said.
“Their early engagement with the entire insurance ecosystem is a proof point for us, as they build on these strategic partnerships to facilitate rapid market penetration.
“With a highly experienced founding team, track record of delivery, great product-market fit and strong industry support LifeBid ticks all the boxes for us for an investment and we are excited to bring investors this opportunity through our platform.”
Details of the CSF campaign are here.
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