Octopus Legacy has bought the tech assets of DeadHappy for an undisclosed sum allowing it to enter the life insurance market.
The controversial life insurance company went into administration in June 2024.
Sam Grice, founder and CEO of Octopus Legacy, formerly Guardian Angel, said the firm was on the look out for technology which could offer tailored life insurance for customers.
The firm was approached by Evelyn Partners, administrators of DeadHappy, and Grice said the acquisition will allow it to launch into the life insurance market.
Speaking to FT Adviser, he added: "This will allow us to double down on our ability to offer best in class, estate planning products to market."
He said the technology that DeadHappy used to deliver its life insurance policies was "outstanding".
"What stood out for us was the kind of technology is very good, it's outstanding, it's proprietary. It will allow us to deliver a life insurance product to market that we're happy with.
"What we tend to find is sometimes the insurance products can be not that user friendly and quite clunky. But this isn't like that. So it allows us to align to our core products."
He called the technology user friendly and said it will make it easy for customers to get what they need.
Adam Stephens and Kevin Ley of Evelyn Partners were appointed as joint administrators of Dead Happy in June.
The failed life insurer, was known for its controversial and eye-catching adverts, including the use of serial killer Harold Shipman in one.
Grice said the firm looked only at the technology when considering the DeadHappy tech acquisition and would not disclose the cost of the deal.
He added: "The way we view it is we've acquired the technology platform, so it's very much around allowing us to now deliver life insurance to the 350,000 people we serve. We've helped with both planning for death, but also support after loss, and this will allow us to offer them a life insurance product.
"A big part of our mantra is clearing up that space for consumers so they can focus on what's important, which is dealing with loss.
"But often what you find is with incumbents or the market processes, it becomes incredibly complicated and we struggled to find technology that allowed to make that process efficient. So, it aligned perfectly to our strategy."
When Guardian Angel was acquired by Octopus Group in 2022 there were nine members of staff. It has now grown to more than 45. Grice said the ambition is to grow to 150 by the end of 2025.
tara.o'connor@ft.com
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