• For everyone to have the choice to live independently as they age, we must empower informal social care networks to deliver care support in a sustainable and effective manner.
• Globally, the number of people aged 65+ is growing at twice the rate of younger age groups. People are also living longer, but in poorer health.
• In the absence of affordable professional support, 12,000 people each day in the UK are being thrust into a caregiving role for an elderly/frail/sick/disabled loved one. Costing their employers £4.8bn each year through productivity losses, absence, and turnover.
• Yurtle’s B2B solution helps employers prevent caregiver burnout in their workforce by helping employees build a resilient care team around them and providing financial safety.
• Yurtle’s Seed round was co-led by Insurtech Gateway and MSM (Mustard Seed Maze), providing a fillip to the company’s credentials in both its insurance structure and its social impact.
• The funding will enable Yurtle to grow its team (product and sales) and release Yurty, the UK’s first digital care ally. Yurtle’s support is scalable, hyper-personalised and affordable, relying on humans only when they are best placed to perform a task.

London, UK, 28th February – Yurtle, a London-based insurtech helping workplaces combat caregiver burnout, has closed a Seed funding round of £1.37m co-led by Insurtech Gateway and Mustard Seed Maze, to grow its team and roll out the world’s first digital care ally.

Yurtle envisages a world where everyone has the choice to live independently as they age. To do so, we must empower informal social care networks to deliver care support in a sustainable and effective manner.

Ageing population needs more caregivers

Global demographic data paints a scary picture for social care. The number of people aged 65+ is growing at twice the rate of younger age groups. People are also living longer than they have by historical standards, but in poor health. In the absence of adequate public provisions, 12,000 people each day in the UK are being thrust into a caregiving role for an elderly/frail/sick/disabled loved one. When caregivers go unsupported in UK workplaces, they put their holistic health at risk, as well as costing their employers £4.8bn each year through productivity losses, absence, and turnover.

Yurtle’s product

Paid for by employers, Yurtle’s B2B solution prevents caregiver burnout by helping them build a resilient care team around them, as well as a financial safety net when their health breaks down.

The  employer-paid employee benefit is being sold to HR departments of corporations who are committed to the wellbeing of their employees and gender equality of opportunity.  Over 65% of caregivers are women. Yurtle has already secured distribution access to over 60% of the UK corporate market.

Yurtle’s app helps employees reflect on the care load they carry – often overlooked by caregivers eager to prioritise the needs of a child/parent/grandparent/spouse, receive personalised advice on becoming more effective caregivers, and shows them how to mobilise their existing network to share caring responsibilities.

Yurtle’s novel insurance product gives employees peace of mind that if they are unable to fulfil their usual care role owing to ill-health or accident, they can access the funding and back-up care professionals to offer continuity of care for a dependent.

The team

Yutle’s Founder, Antonio Ribeiro, has seen first-hand the strain caregiving can impose on families. His grandfather received family and professional support in his battle with ALS, and his grandmother today leans heavily on family in her battle with age related frailty and vascular dementia.

*“We believe there is no single systemic challenge more pressing or fascinating to solve for than our ageing population. We are thrilled to have secured funding that allows us to continue building the tools families need to meet their obligations of care for loved ones without sacrificing their health. With the formal announcement of Jose Ribeiro as Chairman of Yurtle, this is truly a mission to give others what we wish our family had access to in its time of need”*

Antonio Ribeiro, Founder

We are fortunate to have two specialist investors as co-leads for this round. Insurtech Gateway – with insurance and regulatory expertise and Mustard Seed Maze – with their impact investment  expertise and network.

“Caregiving is the single largest driver of underrepresentation of women in the senior leadership, it is behind the gender pension and pay gaps, and the lower participation of women in paid work. Yurtle’s product takes a direct approach to tackle this inequality, offering caregivers the community support and financial security necessary to look after their own health and career, while providing high-quality care to loved ones. We are proud to support Yurtle as they expand their product across the UK and beyond.”

Richard Chattock, CEO at Insurtech Gateway

“For MSM, tackling the challenge of a growing elderly population has always been an area of interest, considering the size of the problem and the impact potential. However, it was only clear to us after meeting Yurtle that a scalable business model could be found in the space.

The combo of a solution that solves the financial (insurance) and non-financial (platform) issues linked to caregiving, together with a business model that splits the responsibility between employees and employers, makes this possible. António and the team he built around Yurtle couldn’t be a better fit to tackle this problem, with a combination of business, insurance, behavioral science and on-the ground experience working with caregivers”.

Sofia Queiroz, Investment Principal at MSM.

We are grateful for the angel investment community who have supported us from our company’s formation in November 2020, and Fox Williams LLP for their support with our round.

Next steps

The funding will enable Yurtle to grow its team (product and sales) and release Yurty, the UK’s first digital care ally. In a world of unscalable, and unaffordable human-only caregiver support services, Yurty, represents timely, hyper-personalised and affordable support that has your back no matter how many people gain access to it, relying on humans only when they are best placed to perform a task.

As Yurtle embarks on the next phase of its journey, it invites UK employers and providers in the employee benefits industry to join in its mission to fight caregiver burnout.

About Yurtle

Yurtle, founded in 2020, is a pioneering insurtech operating at the intersection of health, employee wellbeing and social care. Yurtle’s novel insurance-based employee wellness benefit helps companies combat caregiver burnout (and associated productivity and employee turnover losses) in the workplace.

About Insurtech Gateway

The specialist insurtech investor. Insurtech Gateway is on a mission to support founders tackling complex climate and social challenges.  Their incubator supports early-stage tech founders with underwriting capacity, regulatory compliance, seed capital and expert guidance.

Founded in 2016, Insurtech Gateway was the birthplace of many of Europe’s hottest insurtechs; By Miles, Coincover, Nayms, Loadsure, Bondaval, Collective Benefits, FloodFlash and Kita. They have authorised incubators in London and Sydney, supporting 30 portfolio companies, live in 97 countries, working with 26 insurers.

Insurtech Gateway would like to meet early-stage founders with game-changing ideas or products, and progressive (re)insurers who are interested in collaboration.

insurtechgateway.com

About MSM

MSM (Mustard Seed MAZE) is an impact Venture Capital fund that invests in the great businesses of the future, those that solve social and environmental challenges. MSM targets fast-growing European ventures with global lock-step potential where impact and financial returns are mutually reinforcing. In addition, MSM provides tailored support throughout their journey of growth. Based in Lisbon and London, MSM has invested in European-based startups such as Kitch (PT) – already acquired by Glovo -, Orbital Materials (UK), Student Finance (SP), and Omocom (SE).