Originally published by Startup Savant on March 2, 2022
FreeWill is a tech and social responsibility startup that developed an online suite of tools designed for users to create wills and commit money to charitable organizations. The company recently announced the close of its Series B funding round led by Bain Capital Double Impact.
How FreeWill Works and Charitable Impact of Business
As the name suggests, FreeWill provides a free service for users to make a will. Through the online tools created by the company, users can format and designate their end-of-life wishes without paying for expensive lawyers or drafting the document alone. Alongside drafting a will, the tech startup has a number of tools designed to assist in other important planning.
FreeWill has an option to draft a living will that will specify users’ healthcare wishes or appoint someone to manage the specified information on their behalf if they are unable to do so in the future.
The tech startup has designed tools to help users legally designate power of attorney if needed. The company has also launched a tool created to designate and distribute assets to beneficiaries who are not covered in a will. Some of these include 401(k)s, life insurance policies, and IRAs.
What makes the tech startup unique is how its tools help nonprofit charities. Through the FreeWill online product, users can easily commit money, stock, or non-cash assets to be distributed among specific charities after they pass. By building business partnerships with over 1,000 charities, the company has helped create more tax advantageous methods of donating through a will. Furthermore, committed donations of stock, crypto, or non-cash assets through FreeWill can oftentimes be completely tax-free.
The tech startup has already facilitated significant business success for its charitable partners. Through FreeWill’s online tools, over $4.7 billion in non-cash assets, stocks, crypto, and cash have been committed to more than 10,000 charities.
Furthermore, the company has experienced its own business growth with over 460,000 individuals who have created wills with the company’s online tools.
FreeWill Funding Round and Future Business Plans
In its Series B funding round, FreeWill raised $30 million in capital. In addition to Bain Capital Double Impact, the round saw participation from QED Investors, Ulu, Highland, Pear, and HearstLab.
The company plans to use the newly raised capital to invest in its product development sector to create new features and tools. Additionally, the startup plans to expand current operations by building new business partnerships with additional nonprofit charities. FreeWill is currently hiring new employees across a number of different departments.
When commenting on the impact of FreeWill and the latest funding round, Managing Director of Bain Capital Double Impact Iain Ware said, “We are thrilled to support a pioneering mission-driven enterprise like FreeWill that is transforming the process for planned and non-cash nonprofit giving. The company's highly differentiated offerings are building the future of philanthropy by enabling nonprofits to more efficiently raise meaningful incremental donations to expand critical services to the communities they serve. We are excited to empower FreeWill's ambitious growth and impact plan by supporting its expansion into adjacent services and customer groups and enhancing its current suite of nonprofit giving resources.