Loss is a universal human experience. And yet — navigating the aftermath of a loved one’s death is often a lonely endeavor, fraught with administrative tedium that can take the average person 15 months to complete (18 months if they are the executor of the estate). Bereavement leave is typically limited to days, while the impact of loss stretches across years.
Enter Empathy — an end-to-end grief support company true to its name.
We met Ron Gura over a decade ago, when he was raising seed capital for his previous company. We followed him closely and were privileged to reconnect with him and his co-founder Yonatan Bergman as they were just getting started reimagining the cultural impact of loss for everyone it touches. They’d known each other for years, meeting 15 years ago at a company Ron co-founded which was later acquired by eBay. Fueled by their vision of a category-defining company in the emerging compassion economy, we were thrilled to invest in Empathy’s 2021 seed round alongside Aleph.
Today, we’re excited to announce we are investing in Empathy, with our participation in its $47M Series B to support its market expansion and quest to change how the world deals with loss.
A Platform for Holistic Grief Support
Empathy's platform offers full-circle support for all of the challenges faced by bereaved families, from probate and estate settlement to grief and interpersonal conflict. Empathy creates a personalized Care Plan for each family and assigns them a 1:1 Care Manager to help them through the process, saving them an average of 200 hours on daunting administrative tasks like canceling accounts and subscriptions and resolving probate. To aid in the emotional processing of loss, Empathy offers meditations, breathing exercises, and expert content on the challenges and realities of grief.
As it has expanded its reach and its services, Empathy has partnered with many progressive employers and dozens of the largest life insurance companies in the US, including MetLife, Guardian, and New York Life. Empathy’s reach now extends to 5 million employees and 35 million policyholders, translating to 1 in 7 beneficiaries covered in the US. Their partnerships with life insurance companies have enabled these companies to build loyal relationships with families by going beyond the transactional exchange of an insurance payout. This has driven fundamental industry change, fostering a more compassionate, humane standard of care in a space that demands it.
Ron, Yonatan, and the entire Empathy team are leading the way toward a more empathetic world. We’re proud of their progress in transforming the culture around a historically taboo topic and grateful to be part of their mission-driven journey. The best is yet to come.
