Empathy closes $47M for AI to help with the practical and emotional bereavement process

Death, as the famous saying goes, is one of the inevitable certainties of life. But that doesn’t make coping with it any easier — not least because while loved ones are grieving, they must also handle a dizzying number of practical tasks, from organizing funerals through to settling finances for the deceased. A startup called Empathy has built a platform to help navigate this tricky space, and now with some 40 million people using the platform it’s raised $47 million more in funding to grow.

The equity round, a Series B, is being led by new backer Index Ventures with several major insurance companies — MassMutual Ventures, MetLife, New York Life, Securian, and Sumitomo — participating as strategic investors. While the company initially launched with a more direct sales model, these days, it primarily works via a B2B2C approach, providing services via policies from employers or insurers, which together account for 99% of its business.