Lateral raises £2.5M to target UK’s growing over-60s market
London-based startup Lateral has raised £2.5 million in seed funding to build insurance and guidance products for people over 60, a demographic the company says is increasingly underserved by traditional insurers and hard-pressed public services.
The round was led by Augmentum, with participation from Triple Point and TinyVC. The capital will be used to roll out the company’s first product, the Lateral Health Plan, aimed at customers in their 60s and 70s who want more control over healthcare decisions while still relying on the NHS for core services.
A demographic shift is reshaping demand
The UK’s population is ageing rapidly. There are now about 14.5 million people over 60, a figure projected to rise to 17 million by 2040. As that cohort grows, demand for healthcare, wellbeing services, and later-life financial planning is expanding in parallel.
At the same time, many older adults are spending directly on private consultations, diagnostics, and treatments. That out-of-pocket spending has helped create a self-pay market estimated at £1.6 billion, but consumers often face fragmented options, opaque pricing, and limited support in understanding what to do next once they receive a diagnosis or referral.
Lateral is positioning itself at the intersection of health and wealth decisions for this group, arguing that many people in their 60s and 70s are living longer, staying active, and seeking proactive ways to manage health—yet are still treated by legacy insurance products as high-risk, high-friction customers.
Founders bring insurtech and scale-up experience
Lateral was founded by Laura Ashforth, the company’s CEO, and Steven Mendel, its executive chair. The pair’s backgrounds blend insurtech product development, operational scaling, and wealth management.
Ashforth previously served as managing director at Zego, where she worked on behaviour-based insurance for fleet motor customers at what became the UK’s first insurtech unicorn. Earlier in her career, she invested in high-growth technology companies at Atomico and held roles at Morgan Stanley and Improbable, where she led strategy and financial planning.
Mendel is best known as co-founder and former CEO of pet insurer ManyPets, a scale-up valued at more than $2 billion following its 2021 Series D round. He now serves as a non-executive director on the Many Group board and chairs Bikmo. His prior experience includes senior roles at Close Brothers Wealth Management, Christie’s, and Barclays Wealth, as well as consulting at McKinsey & Company.
What the Lateral Health Plan offers
The company’s initial product, the Lateral Health Plan, is designed to “wrap around” existing care rather than replace it. The plan combines three elements into a single policy: private healthcare cover, care navigation, and preventive wellbeing benefits.
A central feature is a nurse-led navigation service staffed by qualified case-management nurses. The service is intended to help members interpret diagnoses, understand treatment pathways, and decide how to combine NHS and private options. In practice, that could mean support in comparing routes to specialist care, understanding likely timelines, and identifying when self-pay or insured private care might be appropriate.
Lateral is also pitching a clearer, more predictable pricing approach than traditional private medical insurance, with an emphasis on transparent year-on-year costs. Because the product is designed to complement the NHS, the company says premiums can remain lower than full private medical insurance. As an example, it cites pricing of around £150 per month for a 67-year-old.
Why investors are paying attention
The seed round reflects growing investor interest in products tailored to ageing populations, particularly where services can reduce friction in healthcare decision-making. For many consumers, the complexity is not only clinical but administrative: knowing what is covered, which provider to use, what to do next, and how to avoid unexpected costs.
By combining insurance with navigation and preventative benefits, Lateral is aiming to differentiate from conventional policies that focus on claims reimbursement but offer limited hands-on support. The approach also aligns with a broader trend toward consumer-centric health services, where guidance and coordination are positioned as core value rather than optional add-ons.
Founders: retirement is changing, and products must follow
Laura Ashforth, co-founder and CEO of Lateral, said the company is building products “expertly created” for over-60s who want to stay well and independent. She highlighted that navigating the health system can become harder with age, and said the company intends to support informed choices while incorporating “evidence-based preventative approaches,” including an annual health check.
Steven Mendel, co-founder and executive chair, argued that insurers have historically mischaracterised people over 60. “For far too long, insurers have viewed people over 60 as old, immobile, and liable to injury,” he said, adding that many people in their 60s and 70s are “fitter and more active than ever,” and see retirement as an opportunity to do more, not less.
What comes next
Lateral says the new funding will primarily support the rollout of the Lateral Health Plan as it seeks to establish a foothold in what it describes as one of the UK’s fastest-growing and least-served markets. If the company can execute on transparent pricing, effective nurse-led navigation, and seamless interaction with the NHS, it could carve out a distinctive position in later-life health planning—an area where demand is rising and expectations are shifting.
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