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§ Private Profile · New York City, NY, USA
Online platform providing free tools for legally valid wills, trusts, and estate plans, simplifying charitable giving.
FreeWill is a fully remote for-profit social enterprise based in the USA that provides comprehensive online estate planning tools for creating legally valid wills, revocable trusts, and health care directives. Featured as a viable DIY option in The New York Times, the platform generates its revenue through flat annual subscription fees paid by select financial institutions and various nonprofit organizations. Operating with a remote workforce of over 175 employees, the company has partnered with more than 1,450 nonprofits to facilitate planned giving through bequests, stocks, and individual retirement accounts. To date, the software platform has enabled over one million users to pledge more than $13 billion in charitable commitments, with an average individual bequest size reaching $48,000. The organization was founded in 2017 at Stanford University by Patrick Schmitt and Jenny Xia Spradling.
FreeWill has raised $30.0M across 1 funding round.
FreeWill has raised $30.0M in total across 1 funding round.
FreeWill is a public benefit corporation offering free online estate planning tools, including wills, advance healthcare directives, powers of attorney, qualified charitable distributions, stock donations, and crypto gifts, enabling users to plan legacies and commit funds to nonprofits.[2][3][4][5] It serves millions of individuals and over 2,300 partner nonprofits, solving the problem of inaccessible, costly estate planning by providing simple, no-cost software that has facilitated over $13 billion in charitable bequests to more than 10,000 organizations.[2][4][5] FreeWill's growth is evident in its 2017 launch, a $30 million Series B in 2022 from Bain Capital, rapid scaling, and expansions like crypto tools amid rising non-cash giving.[1][2][4]
FreeWill was founded in 2017 at Stanford University by Jenny Xia Spradling and Patrick Schmitt, who now serve as co-CEOs.[2][3][4] The idea emerged from Schmitt's fundraising experience at the Democratic National Committee, where he realized a website could simplify estate planning and boost charitable giving after handling his own—addressing gaps in nonprofit tech for planned gifts.[2][3][4] Spradling brought expertise from McKinsey, Bain Capital's impact fund, and cofounding Paribus (acquired by Capital One), while Schmitt had led nonprofits and grown Change.org to 100 million users.[4] Early traction included recognition as a top 2019 philanthropic effort by *Town & Country*, partnerships with nonprofits funding free tools via subscription fees for donor reports, and hitting $1 billion in commitments featured in *Forbes*.[3][4]
FreeWill rides the trend of democratized fintech for social good, leveraging online tools to disrupt traditional estate planning amid aging populations and rising digital philanthropy.[2][4] Timing aligns with post-2017 growth in non-cash giving (stocks, crypto, IRAs), where most nonprofits lack infrastructure—FreeWill enables same-day acceptance, unlocking billions.[2] Market forces like tech-savvy donors, nonprofit tech lags, and impact investing (e.g., Bain Capital's Series B) favor it, influencing the ecosystem by partnering with 2,300+ orgs, boosting planned giving, and modeling mission-driven B Corps in philanthropy tech.[1][2][4]
FreeWill is poised to surpass its $1 trillion nonprofit fundraising goal through product expansions like AI-enhanced tools and global reach, capitalizing on crypto/stock giving surges and aging demographics.[2][4] Trends like regulatory easing for digital assets and nonprofit digitization will accelerate growth, potentially evolving its influence via deeper enterprise integrations or international tools. As a pioneer in free legacy planning, FreeWill continues transforming philanthropy from elite to everyday, empowering donors and causes with scalable tech.
FreeWill has raised $30.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $30.0M Series B in March 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 1, 2022 | $30M Series B | Iain Ware | 2045 Ventures, Altalurra Ventures, Backstage Capital, Chingona Ventures, Deciens Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Gaingels, Ganas Ventures, M13, Mindset Ventures, OVO Fund, Plug & Play Ventures, QED Investors, Rabo Ventures, Supply Change Capital, Tsvc Capital, ULU Ventures, Vamos Ventures, Vitalize Venture Group, Austin Ogilvie, Guilherme Bonifacio, HearstLab, Highland Capital Partners, ICONIQ Growth, Pear VC | Announced |
FreeWill has raised $30.0M in total across 1 funding round.
FreeWill's investors include Iain Ware, 2045 ventures, Altalurra Ventures, Backstage Capital, Chingona Ventures, Deciens Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Gaingels, Ganas Ventures, M13, Mindset Ventures.