Digital Afterlives: The Rise of Startups Offering Tech-Forward Farewells

Can you imagine a world where businesses were not looking to disrupt and earn billions of dollars? Considering the US funeral market generates almost $20 billion a year, it’s next on the list of opportunities startups want to profit from. 

As part of this reality, we also need to look at the rise of startups focusing on other, less flashy industries, like death. The rise of new businesses in this space will feed a growing demand for tech-forward digital farewells that isn’t going away anytime soon. 

The Death Landscape Is Growing

As morbid as it might be, the business of death is big, and it’s why these startups are seeing dollar signs. Between funerals, memorials, and the like, there are billions of dollars at stake every year for companies that can succeed in carving out their own niche. The challenge is that multiple startups are seeing the same potential, so the window for really creating a business plan and getting started is closing. 

This is why startups are already jumping into the space and doing so with digital and tech-friendly solutions to not just simplify the business of saying goodbye, but trying to reduce overall costs. Funerals already cost in the thousands, and many families are not prepared for this expense. It’s for this reason that these startups aren’t looking to charge big dollars, but instead grow by volume. 

Bank of Memories

When Bank of Memories closed its first angel fund with a pre-money valuation of $8 million, the writing was on the wall for future success. Originally operating in Ukraine, the company has since relocated to the US, secured $100,000 more in grants and angel funding, is now looking to create a market for online digital memory storage. 

Using fancy terms like blockchain and decentralized storage is no doubt helping attract money to Bank of Memories, but it’s not the whole story. The focus should be on the company’s goal of helping people upload memories of family members that will last forever. 

According to a Medium post Andrew wrote in 2020, he “…wanted to create something useful for this world, something that would benefit everyone, and not just me.” This realization came to him after he learned his mother had Parkinson’s disease and he wanted to keep as many memories of her as possible. 

Ever Loved

Receiving plenty of attention from popular sites like TechCrunch, Ever Loved hopes to completely change the way we celebrate the lives of our loved ones. This is especially true when you consider it’s diving headfirst into using AI, something founders Alison Johnston and Eric Zarowny can help deliver some extra peace of mind during the grieving period. 

Founded in 2017, Ever Loved has six different VC investors, including startup seed funding from Social Capital and angel investors. The money from these investors has helped attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to the business. In the future, the company hopes to keep these visitors coming back as it rolls out a marketplace for funeral services. However, for now, Johnston says “Rushing to arrange end-of-life logistics is enormously painful,” and believes that her startup can help alleviate some of the stress.

Whether it’s collecting donations, finding a funeral home/cemetery, collecting memories, sharing funeral details, or helping publish an obituary, Ever Loved is looking to be a one-stop shop for all of your digital afterlife needs. 

HereAfter AI

After James Vlahos lost his father to cancer in 2017, he started down a path that would eventually bring him to start his new venture, HereAfterAI. Vlahos’ company is jumping into the deep end with AI by introducing a controversial tool that utilizes AI to replicate the voices of family members who have previously passed away. In order to do so, Vlahos has raised over $5 million from Berkeley SkyDeck. 

According to an interview the founder did with CNET, his first effort, DadBot, “…didn’t replace my dad, but it gave us this vibrant way to remember him.” This is exactly the effort Vlahos is now undertaking with his new service. Essentially, HereAfter AI asks you to record stories with the loved one in the app, so family members can later hear what they had to say about photos and memories in their voice. 

Not only is HereAfter AI interactive, but it’s utilizing the growing power of AI to help you wade through hours of conventional recordings. Best of all, people of all ages can use the app, allowing different generations to learn about family members who have since passed away. 

GoodTrust

According to GoodTrust founder Rikard Steiber, his app is a one-stop shop for all end-of-life services. “Our go-to-market plan is to be where people are in pain and when they are in need.” Shortly after launching in April 2020, the service grew to over 75,000 followers, which in turn helped them secure an additional $2.3 million in funding in 2021. 

What the service specializes in is essentially a smart digital vault, where you can place any important documents, like wills, trusts, and medical directives. For $149, GoodTrust will walk you through every step, which they claim can take as little as 20 minutes to complete. 

Better yet, once all the documents are finalized, you can decide who has access to the digital vault. This is a great way to prevent family feuds while grieving, as one person can be appointed as the executor of any wishes directly on the service. 

My Wonderful Life

My Wonderful Life is one of the easiest startups to talk about in the digital farewell space after its appearance on Shark Tank. Company founders Nancy Bush and Sue Kruskopf both appeared, looking for $100,000 for a 10% equity stake, which would have valued the company at $1 million. 

While the founders walked away without a deal, by 2021, they had already shown signs of thriving, earning approximately $900,000 in revenue. Ironically, the app still doesn’t appear to have any outside investors, but it remains a startup nonetheless. Calling itself one of the easiest ways to create a pre-plan for a memorial, My Wonderful Life is heavily focused on the idea of tech-forward farewells. 

All you have to do is sign-up, answer a few basic questions, and then start preparing a record of all of your final details and wishes. The best part is that you can be sure everything you write in here is your own words. The app promises strong security and even offers nice little touches like the opportunity to tell your family what music you want to play at your funeral or memorial. 

 

 

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