Empathy: A Startup Case Study – Supporting Bereaved Families with Technology and Compassion

Empathy

Empathy is an innovative platform that addresses the needs of individuals dealing with the loss of a loved one. By combining technological efficiency with human care, it offers both practical and emotional support in one cohesive solution.

• Founding Year: 2020
• Headquarters: New York, USA
• Industry: Information
• Status: Active

Business Model

Type: B2B, One-sided, Product & Service

Clients:

• Employers: Seeking to enhance employee benefits and support during bereavement.
• Life Insurance Carriers: Aiming to improve beneficiary support and claims experience.
• Consultants: Looking to offer valuable bereavement benefits to clients.
• Health Plans: Seeking to provide comprehensive support to members experiencing loss.

It’s Like: TaskRabbit but for end-of-life logistics and grief support.

Empathy provides on-demand assistance for the myriad tasks and emotional challenges associated with the death of a loved one, much like TaskRabbit connects users with individuals to handle various errands and chores.

• TaskRabbit focuses on everyday tasks. Empathy specializes in the sensitive and complex needs surrounding bereavement.
• TaskRabbit primarily addresses logistical needs. Empathy provides both practical assistance and emotional support through its platform and Care Managers.
• TaskRabbit operates on a transactional basis. Empathy often engages with users over an extended period, offering ongoing guidance and resources as they navigate the grieving process.

Key Challenges in Bereavement

• Navigating the aftermath of a loved one’s death is emotionally overwhelming and logistically complex.
• Families often lack the knowledge and emotional bandwidth to handle the numerous tasks involved, such as funeral arrangements, estate settlement, and account closures.
• Traditional support systems often fall short in addressing the multifaceted needs of bereaved families, leading to prolonged stress and potential financial strain.
• Societal aversion to discussing death and end-of-life planning exacerbates these challenges, leaving families unprepared and overwhelmed when a loss occurs.

Key Features & Services

• Personalized Care Plans: Empathy provides tailored guidance and step-by-step assistance with essential tasks, such as funeral arrangements, estate settlement, and account closures.
• Time-Saving Tools: The platform streamlines administrative processes, automating tasks like applying for benefits and canceling accounts.
• Grief Support Resources: Empathy offers a range of resources, including audio companions, meditations, expert content, and a daily journal, to help users cope with the emotional aspects of grief.
• Dedicated Care Managers: Users have access to empathetic human support from dedicated Care Managers who provide personalized guidance and expert advice.
• Proactive Legacy Planning: Empathy’s LifeVault service enables users to create and manage essential legacy planning documents, such as wills and healthcare directives.

Founding Story

When and How Founded: Empathy was founded in 2020 by Ron Gura (CEO) and Yonatan Bergman (CTO) to address the inadequate support systems available to bereaved families.

Founders’ Problem Experience: The founders observed a societal aversion to discussing and planning for death, exacerbating the difficulties faced by grieving families. They aimed to transform the cultural impact of loss.

Founders’ Past Experience: Ron Gura brought entrepreneurial experience from co-founding The Gift Project (acquired by eBay) and working at eBay and WeWork. Yonatan Bergman’s expertise lay in technology.

Why Start the Business: Driven by a vision to change how society addresses loss, they created Empathy to provide comprehensive emotional, financial, and bureaucratic support for bereaved families.

Who Joined Them: The company later added key personnel like Sophie Ruddock (COO), Cindy Goodrich (CMO), Rotem Waissman (VP of Design), and Jennifer Amaral (VP of Insurance & Wealth Solutions).

How They Solved the Problem: They created a technology platform combined with human care to guide families through the logistical and emotional challenges of loss.

Continued Growth: Empathy expanded its services, secured significant funding ($90M), and grew its user base to over 33 million.

Innovation/Technology for Success: They leveraged technology to automate tasks, provide personalized care plans, and offer on-demand support, while human Care Managers provided empathetic guidance.

Key Growth Milestones

• 2020: Empathy was founded.
• 2021: Raised $13M in seed funding and $30M in Series A funding.
• 2023: Revenue increased fourfold.
• 2024: Raised $47M in Series B funding, launched LifeVault (legacy planning service), and achieved 300% revenue growth.

Market & Competition

Target Market

Primary Market:

• Bereaved Families: Empathy’s core focus is on providing support to families coping with the loss of a loved one.
• Reach: Empathy currently serves over 40 million individuals in the United States through its partnerships.

Distribution Channels (Partners):

• Life Insurance Carriers: Empathy partners with major life insurance companies to offer its services as a value-added benefit to beneficiaries. These partnerships provide access to a large and readily addressable market. Key partners include:
  • MetLife,
  • Guardian,
  • New York Life,
  • Prudential,
  • Sun Life,
  • Securian,
  • Allianz,
  • MassMutual,
  • Sumitomo,
  • Ullico.
• Employers: Empathy partners directly with employers to offer its services as an employee benefit, supporting their workforce during times of loss. Examples include AT&T and CarMax.

Market Growth:

• The global market for grief counseling and bereavement support is experiencing substantial growth, driven by factors such as increased awareness of mental health, rising demand for specialized grief support services, expansion of employee wellness programs, and supportive initiatives from government and non-profit organizations.
• Market research projects continued growth in the coming years, with varying estimates of the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR):
  • 2023–2024: The market expanded from $3.04 billion in 2023 to $3.34 billion in 2024, reflecting a 9.8% CAGR.
  • 2024–2025: Projected to grow from $3.34 billion to $3.68 billion, with a 10.2% CAGR.
  • 2025–2029: Expected to reach $5.36 billion by 2029, maintaining a 9.9% CAGR.

Potential New Markets:

• Geographic Expansion: While currently focused on the US market, Empathy has expressed intentions to expand its services to new geographic regions.
• New Industry Verticals: Empathy aims to expand its services to cover new industries beyond its current focus on insurance and employee benefits.

Growth Trends:

• Increasing Demand for Bereavement Support: The demand for specialized bereavement support services is expected to continue to rise due to factors such as an aging population and a growing emphasis on mental health and well-being.
• Growing Adoption of Employee Wellness Programs: As more employers recognize the importance of supporting their employees’ well-being, the adoption of comprehensive employee wellness programs, including bereavement support, is likely to increase.
• Technological Advancements: Advancements in technology, particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence and personalized digital experiences, are creating new opportunities to enhance and expand bereavement support services.

Competitor Landscape

Empathy operates in a competitive market with various players offering bereavement support and related services.

Main Rivals:

• Legacy.com: Focuses on online obituaries and memorial services.
• Everplans: Offers end-of-life planning and organization tools.
• GriefShare: Provides support groups and resources for individuals navigating grief.
• Lantern: Focuses on end-of-life planning, including helping individuals prepare their affairs to ease the burden on loved ones.
• Trust & Will: Specializes in estate planning services, such as creating trusts and wills, to simplify the inheritance process.

Other Competitors (Broader Caregiving and Family Support):

• Cariloop: Caregiver support platforms.
• Betterleave: Comprehensive bereavement care services.
• Grayce: Family care and support.
• Virtue Health: Digital therapeutics for age-related conditions.
• Wellthy: Care coordination services.
• Cleo: Family benefits platform.

Marketing & Sales

Main Positioning Values: Time & Quality

Website & Socials

• The official website, empathy.com, sees around 106.3K monthly visits. A significant share of traffic is direct, followed by organic searches and referrals, with a smaller portion coming from paid search, social media, and ads.
• Most visitors are from the US, followed by Israel, the UK, India, and Canada.
• LinkedIn (25k followers) dominates Empathy’s social media traffic, with Instagram (4k followers), X (formerly Twitter, 1k followers), and Facebook (5k followers) playing smaller roles in driving visitors.

Media Coverage

• Globe Newswire: Reported on Empathy’s $47 million Series B funding round.
• Insurance Innovation Reporter: Emphasized its platform’s role in assisting families during times of loss.
• Hospice News: Covered Empathy’s partnerships with insurance carriers.
• Globes Israel: Reported on Empathy’s funding round, noting its Israeli roots and international impact.
• Prudential Newsroom: Announced Prudential’s partnership with Empathy.
• Ullico Press Releases: Announced Ullico’s partnership with Empathy.

Marketing Strategies

• Strategic Partnerships: Empathy’s primary customer acquisition strategy revolves around forming strong B2B partnerships with:
  • Life insurance carriers: Including major players like MetLife, Guardian, New York Life, Prudential, Sun Life, Securian, Allianz, MassMutual, Sumitomo, and Ullico. These partnerships integrate Empathy’s platform into their beneficiary support programs.
  • Employers: Such as AT&T and CarMax, are offering Empathy’s services as an employee benefit.
  • Consultants and health plans:  Empathy extends its reach within the benefits sector by collaborating with consultants and health plans.
• Direct Outreach: Empathy utilizes a “Book a Demo” option on its website to facilitate direct engagement with interested organizations.
• Content Marketing: Empathy leverages content marketing through its blog, “Care Stories,” and resource section, covering topics like compassionate care, financial futures, and employer resources.
• Webinars and Guides: They host webinars, like one on the impact of loss on the workforce, and offer guides like the “Bereavement Handbook”  to educate and provide support.
• Organic Growth: Driven by positive user feedback, a high average user rating, and word-of-mouth referrals.

Target Audience: Empathy primarily targets families experiencing the loss of a loved one, particularly those who can access the platform through employer-sponsored benefits or life insurance policies. This includes a vast network of over 40 million individuals across the United States. Their demographic focus is on individuals facing emotional and practical challenges after a loss, seeking comprehensive support during this difficult period.

Product & Innovation

Core Product Advantages

• Holistic Approach: Empathy uniquely combines technological efficiency with human empathy to address both the logistical and emotional challenges of bereavement.
• Personalized Guidance: The platform provides tailored care plans and access to dedicated Care Managers, offering individualized support throughout the grieving process.
• Technology-Enabled Efficiency: Empathy streamlines administrative tasks through automation and user-friendly tools, reducing the burden on bereaved families.
• Integration with Existing Systems: Empathy partners with employers and insurance carriers, seamlessly integrating its services into existing benefits packages.
• Proactive Legacy Planning: The introduction of LifeVault expands Empathy’s offerings to include proactive end-of-life planning, empowering users to prepare for the future.

Financials & Metrics

Revenue Sources

• B2B Subscriptions: Empathy’s primary revenue stream is likely generated through recurring subscription fees paid by its partners, which include:
  • Life Insurance Carriers: MetLife, Guardian, New York Life, Prudential, Sun Life, Securian, Allianz, MassMutual, Sumitomo, Ullico, Bestow, Serenia Life, The Hartford
  • Employers: AT&T, CarMax
  • Consultants and Benefits Providers
  • Health Plans
• Direct-to-Consumer Subscriptions: While the emphasis is on B2B partnerships, a potential, though less emphasized, revenue stream might come from individual subscriptions.

Metrics

• Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR): The company reported a fourfold revenue increase in 2023 and a 300% revenue growth in 2024.
• Funding and Investments: Empathy has raised a total of $90 million across three funding rounds:
  • Seed Round (April 6, 2021): $13 million 
  • Series A (September 30, 2021): $30 million 
  • Series B (March 12, 2024): $47 million 
• Employee Count: Estimates: 51-200 employees
• Other Metrics:
  • Average Cost Savings Per Family: $3,007
  • Average Net Promoter Score (NPS): 75
  • User Base: Over 40 million individuals in the United States
  • Average User Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars

Structure & Culture

Organizational Structure

• Leadership: A structured executive team with:
  • Ron Gura: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
  • Yonatan Bergman: Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
• Other Positions:
  • Chief Operating Officer (COO)
  • Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
  • VP of Design, and VP of Insurance & Wealth Solutions.
• Teams: Dedicated teams for Business Development, Care, Product, Operations, Engineering, Design, and Partner Success.
• Roles: A range of roles within these teams, including Care Managers, engineers, designers, sales and business development personnel, and operational roles.

Culture

• Empathy’s culture is rooted in its mission to change how the world deals with loss.
• Their core values are:
  • Trustworthy: Emphasizing transparency in all operations.
  • Empowering: Providing users with the tools and support they need to navigate their loss.
  • Unconditional: Offering inclusive support to all, regardless of their circumstances.
  • Caring: Demonstrating genuine empathy and compassion in all interactions.

• Empathy champions the concept of a “compassionate economy,” prioritizing the needs of the bereaved and fostering a more empathetic approach to dealing with loss.

Impact & Success

Customer Feedback

Empathy has garnered widespread acclaim for its compassionate approach to bereavement support, combining technology with human care.

• Improved Well-being: 92% of families reported feeling better after using Empathy’s services.
• Strong Recommendation Rate: The company has an average Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 75, indicating a high likelihood of users recommending Empathy.
• High User Satisfaction: Users consistently rate Empathy highly, with an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars on both the App Store and Google Play.
• Emotional and Practical Support: Many users express gratitude for the app’s ability to provide both emotional comfort and practical assistance during challenging times. For instance, one user shared:
  

   “I could not have made it this far without the amazing people in this app. In the app there is a chat messaging with real caring people, clips to listen to that explain what to expect and how to handle the necessary things with a list of things that you need to do. They even keep in touch to make sure you’re doing ok. I HIGHLY recommend this app for anyone facing loss of a loved one.”

• Efficiency and Cost Savings: Empathy reports that families save an average of 189 hours and $3,007 when using their services, underscoring the platform’s effectiveness in streamlining post-loss tasks.

Success Stories

Empathy’s impact is further illustrated through personal stories shared by users:

• Navigating Financial Complexities: A widow faced challenges accessing her late husband’s IRA due to beneficiary designation issues. Empathy’s Care Manager assisted her in creating her own IRA account and facilitated the transfer of funds, providing relief during a stressful period.
• Honoring a Loved One’s Memory: Chris, grieving the loss of his fiancée, sought ways to commemorate her. With guidance from Empathy, he decided to plant a tree in her honor, finding solace in creating a lasting tribute.

• Coping with Sleepless Nights: Joseph, who lost his wife, struggled with insomnia. He found comfort in Empathy’s audio resources and utilized the app’s family collaboration features to manage decisions regarding his wife’s belongings, fostering a connection with his daughters during a difficult time.
• Crafting a Meaningful Obituary: Angela faced difficulty writing her mother’s obituary. Empathy’s Care Manager engaged her in conversations about her mother’s life, assisting her in composing a heartfelt tribute that honored her mother’s memory.

Growth & Future

Challenges and Risks

• Market Competition: Empathy operates in a competitive landscape with other bereavement support platforms such as Bereave, Help Texts and Cariloop. These competitors offer various services aimed at assisting individuals during times of loss, making it imperative for Empathy to continually innovate and differentiate its offerings.
• Maintaining User Trust: As Empathy expands its user base, ensuring consistent quality in both its AI-driven tools and human support services is crucial. Any lapses could impact user trust and satisfaction.
• Regulatory and Compliance Challenges: Operating in the sensitive domain of bereavement support requires strict adherence to privacy laws and regulations. Navigating the complexities of data protection and compliance is an ongoing challenge.
• Economic Factors: Economic downturns can influence organizational budgets, potentially affecting the adoption of services like Empathy’s, especially when offered as employee benefits through corporate partnerships.

Future Plans

• AI Integration: Empathy plans to enhance its platform by incorporating more artificial intelligence tools to guide users through various post-loss tasks, such as estate settlement and account closures. This integration aims to streamline processes and provide personalized support.
• Expansion of Services: The company is exploring opportunities to broaden its offerings, potentially including services like LifeVault, a legacy planning tool, to provide comprehensive support throughout the bereavement journey.
• Strategic Partnerships: Empathy intends to forge new partnerships with insurance companies, employers, and healthcare providers to extend its reach and integrate its services into existing support systems.
• Global Market Penetration: While currently focused on the U.S. market, Empathy is considering expansion into international markets, adapting its services to meet diverse cultural and legal requirements related to bereavement.

Key Takeaways for Entrepreneurs

• Don’t shy away from tough markets: Empathy tackles a universally difficult subject, death, and finds success. Don’t be afraid to address challenging but essential needs; there’s often a large, underserved market waiting.
• Pivot when necessary: Empathy’s shift from a direct-to-consumer to a B2B2C model unlocked significant growth. Be willing to adapt your approach and explore different avenues to reach your target audience.
• Humanity + Technology = Powerful combination: Empathy blends technology with human empathy to deliver a more impactful solution. Consider how you can combine digital tools with a human touch to create a more meaningful user experience.
• Data tells a compelling story: Empathy leverages statistics to highlight the market need and the value of its solution. Quantify your impact and use data to demonstrate the problem you’re solving.
• Partnerships are key: Empathy’s success hinges on strategic collaborations with insurance companies, employers, and consultants. Identify potential partners who can amplify your reach and provide access to your target market.