Lyfery’s Life Insurance Story

We created Lyfery because we were frustrated with how unfair traditional life insurance is – it penalises people for factors they’re born with or can’t control, while ignoring the healthy choices they make.

You work out regularly. You eat well. You don’t smoke. Yet you still end up paying the same (or even more!) than someone who takes risks with their health. That just didn’t feel right. We wanted to build something better.

Together with scientists, doctors, and insurance experts, we developed lifestyle-based life insurance that takes your habits into account. The healthier you live, the lower your risk – and the fairer your insurance price.

Lyfery isn’t just another insurance company. It’s a new way of thinking about life insurance – made for people who care about their health and want insurance that truly cares about them.

Recognition

Lyfery Life Insurance received the “Insurance Act of the Year” award for its innovative approach, where a person’s lifestyle directly influences the cost of their insurance.

Trustworthiness

We provide insurance in partnership with Compensa Life (Vienna Insurance Group), so the financial risk of your life insurance is backed by a strong and reliable insurer.

Lifestyle Score

Your Lyfery premium is based on your lifestyle score – the healthier your habits, the better your insurance price. The score also helps you understand your habits more clearly.

We love healthy lifestyle choices

The idea for Lyfery started years ago, when Mihkel and Veikko used to have lunch together at the Swedbank bistro.

Both are active sportsmen – Mihkel plays badminton, while Veikko enjoys skiing and orienteering. They have wonderful families and genuinely care about the world around them.

Naturally, their conversations often turned to life insurance – and how it failed to recognise or reward their healthy choices and lifestyles, even though it should. After all, both had worked in Swedbank’s life insurance for over twenty years – Mihkel as CEO and Veikko as an actuary.

Lyfery Lifestyle Score – fair, science-based, and useful

The Lifestyle Score was created to help you better understand your habits and see how they affect your life expectancy, quality of life, and insurance price. It’s made up of seven parts, each scientifically linked to risk assessment.

Behind it are Dr. Taavi Tillmann, Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Tartu and Lyfery’s Chief Researcher, together with Veikko Talmak, former Chief Actuary at Swedbank. Together, they developed the model that makes truly personal pricing possible in life insurance.

What influences your Lifestyle Score

The Lifestyle Score focuses only on the most important – and changeable – health factors.

The score is designed so it doesn’t require lab tests or complicated measurements.

Genetics, family medical history, and other unchangeable risks aren’t included – because you can’t improve them yourself. The Lifestyle Score focuses only on the things you can actively influence.

Mihkel Mandre

CEO & Founder

25 years of experience in the life insurance industry

Mihkel has been in the life insurance industry for more than 25 years, driving business strategy, and innovation while building cross-border teams at Swedbank Life Insurance. He hails from the most digitally advanced society in the world, having renewed the product portfolio, and transformed the sales and after-service of life insurance entirely to digital channels while launching a successful tele-underwriting concept in the Baltics. Mihkel is determined to revamp the industry on a broader scale and take advantage of the technological revolution across Europe. He believes that true innovation lies in connecting different industries. Life insurance, which has a longer history than Christianity, can make a difference in our lives and the environment as well. Mihkel is convinced that, when people are provided with the tools to live a healthier life, along with full insight and understanding of the influence their behaviour has on their lives and society in general, they grasp the true essence of life insurance. There is only one life and one planet. Feel free to get in touch if his vision attracts your attention.

Veikko Tamlak

CFO & Co-Founder

30 years as an actuary

Veikko has more than thirty years of experience as an insurance mathematician. His career path started as the first-ever actuary at Estonian Governmental Insurance during the years of Estonia’s re-independence when hardly anyone knew what being an actuary meant or what it was they did. Veikko took the lead in the development of the first truly successful investment solutions at Hansabank Insurance. He built several highly functioning, successful systems and models in the actuarial field that are still in use and serving the needs of his previous employers. He’s been fascinated by the idea of lifestyle-based pricing ever since gender-based pricing was forbidden by the EU regulations. Veikko firmly believes that lifestyle-based, individual risk evaluation will not only change the whole life insurance industry but also the general area of augmented health behaviour. The future most definitely belongs to ones who take responsibility for their health and are role models for others.

Taavi Tillmann

Chief Scientific Officer

Inspires synergy and innovation

Taavi’s passion for knowledge led him to study at many of the world’s best universities. He has bachelor’s degrees in both medicine and psychology, a master’s degree in public health, and a PhD in epidemiology. While working as a hospital doctor, Taavi was frustrated by how patients would often leave the hospital only to come back a few weeks later with the same problem. This led him to study, understand and develop mathematical models that predict which individuals have a higher risk of developing heart disease in the future, such as the famous SCORE2 algorithm that is recommended by the European Society of Cardiologists. He is passionate about inspiring various stakeholders across the public and private sectors to collaborate and innovate to bring forth a better world where healthy choices are effectively promoted, marketed, supported and enabled, as prevention is always better than cure. Lyfery is a perfect manifestation of that vision, and he is delighted to integrate the best science into Lyfery’s product, making it as evidence-based and effective as currently possible.

Märt Jõesaar

Chief Growth Officer

Passionate about launching and scaling.

Märt’s work has never been about simply getting things done – it’s about launching the right things. He is at his best when connecting vision, product, people, and technology, helping ideas rise and scale. With a background in interaction design, he understands how to guide people toward desired outcomes without pressure but with intention. He has sold powerful software solutions to global enterprises while always keeping real user needs in mind. His strength lies in a rare combination: deep technological understanding, the ability to build trust, and a sharp instinct for spotting growth opportunities. Märt built his strong technology and sales expertise working within the Salesforce ecosystem, bringing solutions to brands like Voestalpine and Deutsche Telekom. In marketing automation, he has worked with platforms such as SALESmanago, HubSpot, and Klaviyo – learning customer behavior patterns and best practices for designing purchase journeys. For him, technology is only a tool. Real impact comes when it meets good design and bold ambition.

Kadri Haller-Kikkatalo

Tervisestrateegia direktor

Pühendunud meditsiiniteaduse ja andmeanalüütika ühendamisele

Kadri teekond on alati olnud kantud soovist ühendada meditsiiniteadus ja andmeanalüütika, et tuua tervishoidu päriselt toimivaid ja inimeste elu parandavaid lahendusi. Arstina ja teadlasena on tal nii kliiniline kogemus kui ka doktorikraad molekulaarses translatsioonilises meditsiinis, mida ta on täiendanud süvitsi andmeteaduse ja analüütika alal. Rohkem kui 15 aastat on ta tegelenud immunoloogia, günekoloogia ja terviseandmete uurimise ning praktilise rakendamisega, avaldades üle 40 teadusartikli ja arendades välja teooriaid, mis on viinud uute diagnostika- ja ravivõimalusteni. Lyferys näeb Kadri loomulikku jätku oma missioonile: tuua teadus ja innovatsioon otse inimeste igapäevaellu. Tema jaoks ei ole kindlustus ainult finantsinstrument, vaid võimalus luua süsteeme, mis tunnustavad inimeste pingutusi ja pakuvad turvatunnet ka kõige keerulisemates olukordades. Kadri eesmärk on aidata Lyferyl kujundada tuleviku lahendused, mis on ühtaegu teadmuspõhised, tehnoloogiliselt nutikad ja inimlikult ausad.

Silver Ratnik

Preventive Medicine Physician

Health Behavior & Mental Health Expert

Dr. Silver Ratnik is a physician, advisor, and healthcare leader with broad experience spanning clinical medicine, regulatory environments in pharmaceutical agencies, and both private and public healthcare organizations. He is the founder and family doctor at Emajõgi Clinic, where he focuses on mental health and holistic care. In addition, he works one-on-one with individuals, supporting changes in health behavior and the development of lasting habits. Previously, he served as Head of Specialist Care Service Development at the Estonian Health Insurance Fund, where he was responsible for the quality, continuity, and partner relationships in specialist care. Silver’s background combines strong skills in clinical medicine, regulation, communication, and developing systemic approaches. He is also currently a psychiatry resident, combining a science-based perspective on mental health with practical and empathetic work experience. At Lyfery, Silver’s role is to make the complex human and the distant personal. He leads our Wellness Talks—practical health seminars that help people recognize the signs of stress and burnout before they take over. In addition, Silver provides individuals with personal feedback on their Lifestyle Score, helping them understand what the score really means and how to improve their health and wellbeing with simple, well-chosen steps.

Kai Kuusk

Customer Relations Manager

An empathetic and decisive client manager

Kai brings long-standing experience from the insurance world and leads Lyfery’s customer relations with care and responsibility. She has a rare talent for navigating complex cases with calm precision, making decisions that are both thoughtful and fair. With a background in banking and insurance, Kai blends structured thinking, legal accuracy, and a clear, human way of explaining things. For our clients, this means an honest and transparent life insurance experience they can trust.

Risto Rossar

Investor / Advisor

Future Insurance Visionary

Risto Rossar is an entrepreneur, insurance innovator, and the lead investor in Lyfery’s first funding round. At the core of his career has always been the courage to ask: “But why not better?” For more than 20 years, Risto has led the rethinking of traditional insurance models and helped launch several innovative companies, including Insly and IIZI. He believes that insurance doesn’t have to be complicated or merely reactive — it can be preventive, personalized, and technologically smart. His focus is on future-proof life insurance that takes into account people’s real habits and lifestyles, not just age and gender. Beyond entrepreneurship, Risto is also an active thinker and speaker, passionate about simplifying systems, increasing transparency, and empowering individuals to have greater influence over their financial and physical well-being.

Mihkel Mandre

Founder & CEO of Lyfery

The “one-size-fits-all” era is over

“Lyfery was created for people who take responsibility – those who prefer to act rather than wait for someone else to do it for them. It’s clear that the days of one-size-fits-all products and services are long gone. Today, we have modern technology, AI, machine learning, and more – all of which make it possible to offer solutions that truly value healthy lifestyles. I believe we’re at the beginning of a whole new era, and I’m excited to help set it in motion.”

Others about Lyfery

The project “Technological development, testing, and demonstration of components of a healthy lifestyle scoring model” has received €34,580 in development grant support.

As part of the project, a model was developed to assess healthy lifestyle habits, enabling the cost-effective offering of life insurance that supports healthier living. The goal is to create a scalable, health-promoting product that can be expanded across Europe.

As a result of the project, the Lyfery app now measures lifestyle-related mortality risk on an individual customer basis.

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