After transforming from a direct-to-consumer insurer into a full-stack SaaS provider for life insurance companies, Dallas-based insurtech startup Bestow has secured a $120 million Series D round to accelerate product development and deepen its enterprise offerings.
Bestow was founded in 2017 by Melbourne O’Banion and Jonathan Abelmann, driven by O’Banion’s frustrating experience trying to get a life insurance policy. The pair launched Bestow to simplify access to life insurance through technology. Initially, the company underwrote and sold policies directly to consumers, offering a no-medical-exam option that gained momentum during the pandemic. It processed over a million applications in those early years.
But in 2024, Bestow made a decisive pivot. It sold off its insurance carrier and consumer-facing business to Sammons Financial Group and focused entirely on providing digital infrastructure for other life insurers. The aim? To power the modernization of legacy players and enable a seamless, fully digital experience for their customers.
That bet appears to be paying off.
This week, Bestow announced a $120 million Series D raise, made up of $75 million in primary capital and $45 million in secondary sales. The round was co-led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives’ Growth Equity and Smith Point Capital, the investment firm founded by former Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block. Alongside the equity financing, TriplePoint Capital extended a $50 million credit facility.
O’Banion, who also co-founded BeautyBio and Presidio Title, said the round was “oversubscribed,” and while he didn’t reveal revenue numbers, he shared that Bestow’s ARR tripled in 2024 and has grown 10x over the past two years. Today, the company earns most of its revenue through usage-based enterprise SaaS fees, serving major clients like Nationwide, Transamerica, USAA, Equitable, and Sammons—the same firm that acquired its D2C division.
According to Goldman Sachs’ Ashwin Gupta, Bestow’s successful pivot and SaaS-first business model set it apart in a traditionally conservative industry. Gupta, who will now join Bestow’s board, emphasized the company’s traction in a “large, resilient and underserved” market.
With more than $300 million in equity funding raised to date, Bestow now has 167 employees and continues to operate solely in the U.S., though international expansion is on the roadmap.
As Bestow scales its underwriting capabilities and launches new SaaS products, it is positioning itself as a critical layer of modern infrastructure for the life insurance industry—a space still grappling with outdated systems and paper-heavy processes.
