Modern Life Group Inc., an artificial intelligence-powered life insurance brokerage, today announced it raised $20 million in an early-stage funding to transform how advisers serve clients in a rapidly shifting insurance industry.

Thrive Capital led the Series A round, bringing the total capital investment in the company to $35 million. The new funding follows Modern Life’s $15 million seed round also led by Thrive Capital in 2022. New York Life Ventures, Northwestern Mutual and Allegis also participated in the round.

The global life insurance market size was estimated at $7.6 trillion in 2024 and expected to reach $8.2 trillion this year. The market itself is primarily distributed to interested parties by advisers, with an estimated 90% of policies sold that way.

Advisers face ever-increasing complexity when it comes to life insurance policies, including optimizing financial and tax performance, addressing dozens of carriers and products, while managing the medical underwriting process. A typical life insurance package in the industry can take six months to close.

“We started Modern Life to solve a clear problem: we believe that advisers have an incredibly important job but face a complex and dizzying set of obstacles to serving their clients well,” said founder and Chief Executive Michael Konialian.

Modern Life launched its service to deliver better client outcomes efficiently at scale, Konialian explained. The company’s AI advisers assist with navigating every part of the life insurance policy process, including marketing, in order to make the knowledge work side of the industry less of a burden.

“We have been pushing the frontier of what is possible in life insurance,” he added, “integrating what would have otherwise been served by over 10 fragmented legacy tools into a singular platform, removing friction across the entire client journey.”

Modern Life supports advisers in four key areas: underwriting and risk assessment, advice and recommendations, workflow automation and client lifecycle management. Its proprietary AI platform can handle all client data, quotes, applications and medical evidence through a secure dashboard, giving advisers a clearer view of the intersection of insurance, tax and financial planning.

Life insurance workers face numerous challenges, from in-person medical exams to 50-page application forms to countless client and carrier touchpoints. Regulatory changes at both local and federal levels can compound the complexity.

Advisers can access more than 30 carriers — including leading national carriers like John Hancock, Lincoln and Prudential — and every major product type, including permanent and term life to annuities and long-term care.

The company said its platform can reduce tedious, time-consuming processes such as generating quotes from hours or days to just minutes. It can also deliver up to 20% in cost savings through smarter product selection, underwriting expertise and dedicated advocacy.

Modern Life also offers a service called Express Decision, an instant underwriting program where clients can receive offers faster than traditional methods, sometimes in minutes.

“Our experience at New York Life Ventures points to a simple truth: advisers are essential to how life insurance is purchased,” said Tim Del Bello, head of investments at New York Life Ventures.

Image: Modern Life