Our story

Average age 50, with 14 children in total, and still rocking the world

We love healthy choices in life

The idea of Lyfery was seeded years ago when Mihkel and Veikko were having lunch while working at Swedbank. They both love sports and healthy relationships, and they truly care what happens around them. As they both worked in life insurance, of course, the first thing they noticed was that the price of life insurance was always the same even for very different people - the ones who don’t care about their health and the ones who actively cater for the needs of the body and mind.

Elukindlustus
Meie tiim

Lyfery is about enhancing the value of healthy choices in life

And thus Lyfery was created. The like-minded law of attraction saw Indrek join shortly afterwards, having had the same reflections and ideas while running the operations of SEB Life and Pension Insurance. Shared values are a powerful tool and played a key role in bringing and retaining top-notch professionals like Piret and Tiina, who excel in marketing & communication and compliance & legal, respectively, to Lyfery. This shared ethos empowers the collective effort, akin to running a marathon, which is vital in the startup ecosystem. Beyond shared values, Lyfery team’s strength lies in its belief in technology, commitment to justice, and determination to promote healthy behaviours. Lyfery is about enhancing the value of healthy choices in life. Be it regular sports, healthy nutrition habits or healthy relationships. And it is very much about balance. We truly believe this will be the beginning of a new era of life insurance and beyond.

Mihkel Mandre CEO

Mihkel Mandre

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 co-founder

Veikko Tamlak

Co-founder & CFO

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.

Indrek Holst

Indrek Holst

Co-founder

30 years of experience in the life insurance industry

Indrek has a master's degree in mathematics and has been actively innovating the life insurance industry for more than thirty years. He started in the governmental life insurance inspection, then joined Hansabank and launched the life insurance unit there. Most of his career has been dedicated to building up a successful life insurance and pension business model at SEB. Indrek has seen all sides of both the private sector and the governmental one, as he also managed the Social Insurance Board of Estonia. The latter made him a vivid believer and an advocate for healthy lifestyle choices. Governments can never do enough to care for all our needs and most probably it is not even necessary because it is only us who can change our lives for the better by taking responsibility for our healthy lifestyle choices.

Piret Reinson Advisor

Piret Reinson

Member of the founding team & an advisor

Marketing and Communications expert

Piret has led Marketing and Communications efforts at many outstanding banking industry brands like Swedbank and Nordea. She also drove Estonia’s country brand project which was launched in 2017 and, after that, was in charge of global Marcom for the e-Residency program. She is a true believer in technology and knows that all aspects of our lives should become more enjoyable and easier due to the technological revolution. She is grateful for the opportunity to build something from scratch and more importantly - to do it together with people who care, who are smart and authentic. Having created and worked with scores of different brands, Piret has become convinced that true success is only possible when there are people who mean what they say at the core level of the company. She is profoundly convinced that we become happy only through the tough job of conquering our egos and that the pattern of our lives is defined by the decisions we make along the way. Lyfery can support, inspire and motivate us.

Tiina Ilus

Tiina Ilus

Chief Legal Officer

15 years of experience in the financial industry

Tiina is an experienced legal counsellor with more than fifteen years in the financial industry, mostly working with banks and lending companies. Within the last five years, she has moved heavily towards technology, especially financial technology. Tiina loves snow, music and her gorgeous three daughters.

Taavi Tillmann Chief Scientific Officer

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.

Mihkel Mandre
Mihkel Mandre

Lyfery Founder & CEO

”The same measure for everyone times are forever gone"

"Lyfery was created for people who truly care and who are keen to take responsibility. It is for the ones who would rather take control themselves than wait for others to step forward. The times when the same measure could be used for everyone are forever gone. We are nurtured by modern technology, AI, machine learning etc - and this enables us to offer our customers different services and solutions that augment their health behaviour. I believe we are at the beginning of a new era and I couldn’t be more excited to contribute"

Testimonials

Külliki Tafel-Viia Tallinn University
Külliki Tafel-Viia, PhD

Tallinn University

"Health is something that cannot be overestimated. Any solution in this area that helps people to be more proactive, and is more efficient and convenient from the user's point of view, is very welcome. Lyfery's desire to develop a science-based product by working together with universities will create confidence for its users and is also a sign that it is a modern, innovative company."

Risto Rossar, Lead Investor
Risto Rossar

Lead Investor

"I’ve primarily focused on non-life insurance, where innovation is rare, but in the life insurance sector, it’s practically nonexistent, dominated by a handful of banks. However, the Lyfery team possesses the essential qualities needed to disrupt this space and introduce innovative products to customers."

Priit Põldoja Inbank
Priit Põldoja

Inbank

Thus far, no one has made a real breakthrough in life insurance

"The Lyfery team's passion for new business models and deep expertise in the industry will finally make it happen."

Veiko Hintsov Deloitte
Veiko Hintsov

Põhjala factory

"Lyfery will bring true innovation to life insurance, redirecting the profits coming from unrealized risks back to customers who genuinely contribute to minimizing risks through their health behaviour."

Ain Aaviksoo HeBa
Ain Aaviksoo, MD MPH

Health innovator

"Lyfery’s concept of measuring the impact of the health behaviour on one’s risks and giving the rewards of good health behaviour back to the customer has huge potential in both the healthcare and insurance industries."

Merko Kimso Compensa Life Vienna Insurance Group SE
Merko Kimsto

Compensa Life

Health services are an evolving trend

"Lyfery’s concept is modern and helps to reduce important risks."

Tarmo Pihl Minudoc.ee
Tarmo Pihl

Minudoc.ee

"Lyfery’s mission to combine life insurance with a healthy lifestyle is a modern and fresh approach to a traditional and sometimes boring product."

Bernd M. Müller SCOR
Bernd M. Müller

PIB Europe

Health is the new wealth

"While realizing this, it is important to develop new concepts of life insurance. Concepts that actively support staying healthy are exactly what the industry needs."