Farewill

Last updated
Farewill
Company typePrivate
Industry
FoundedJuly 24, 2015;10 years ago (2015-07-24) in London, England
Founders
  • Dan Garrett
  • Tom Rogers
Headquarters27 Downham Rd, Dalston,
London
,
England
Area served
United Kingdom
Services
Number of employees
84+ [1]
Website farewill.com

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. [2] In 2019, it was named the National Will Writing Firm of the Year. [3]

Contents

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. [4] He later organized funerals and gained a qualification in will writing, which led to the founding of Farewill. [5]

In 2016, Tracy Doree, an angel investor and founder of venture capital firm Kindred Capital, joined Farewill as its Chairperson. [6]

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. [7] Direct cremations start from £980. [8]

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. [9]

Charity Partnerships

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 Investors

Farewill has undergone several funding rounds. In January 2019, the company raised £7.5 million in a series A round. [11] On July 8, 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

  1. ↑ "Farewill". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  2. ↑ "Farewill Limited". The Law Society. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  3. ↑ "Night Of Celebration At The British Wills and Probate Awards". 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  4. ↑ Symcox, Jonathan (2020-07-08). "£20m investment for death tech start-up". Business Cloud. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  5. ↑ Whitfield, Nick (2018-01-15). "Farewill Q&A — Dan Garrett, Farewill CEO". Kyan (Interview). Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  6. ↑ "Tracy Doree". AngelList. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  7. ↑ Scammell, Robert (2020-07-08). "Will-writing startup Farewill raises £20m to tackle funeral poverty". VERDICT. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  8. ↑ "Simple Cremations". MaxLyte. Archived from the original on 2020-07-11. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  9. ↑ Lomas, Natasha (2016-11-21). "UK startup Farewill wants to give will-writing a web-based makeover". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  10. ↑ May, Melanie (2019-01-22). "Online will-writing service Farewill completes £7.5m capital raise". UK Fundraising.
  11. ↑ Adler, Timothy (2019-01-22). "Will-writing disruptor Farewill raises £8m from Daily Mail and others". Growth Business. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ Musgrove, Annie (2020-07-08). "London-based Farewill gets £20 million to modernise UK's death care industry". Tech.eu. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  14. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2022-11-04. Retrieved 2023-08-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ↑ "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.
  16. ↑ 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.
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