Grief Awareness Week 2024: The Startups Helping People Manage Their Grief

As Grief Awareness Week comes around, it’s important to think about those that are struggling from loss.

Grief can come in many forms, and processing is definitely not linear. Whilst the process will never get easier, a number of startups have popped up in recent years to support people through their stages of grief, helping them find community, comfort and care.

 

What Are The 5 Stages Of Grief?

 

When speaking about grief, the stages are usually broken out into 5 periods, these are:

Denial: Where a person struggles to come to terms with what has happened or is about to happen. This stage can make people reclusive.

Anger: Either at a situation or the person for leaving them.

Bargaining: Trying to work out how to feel better and or change the situation. ie. If I do X please make this feeling go away.

Depression: The sadness creeps in, and despair takes over, as grievers wonder when the process might end.

Acceptance: Finally, a period of acceptance, where the griever moves forward with their life and emotions become more regulated.

 

How Is Tech Helping People Combat Grief?

 

Tech is playing a big role in helping people combat grief. Some ways they are doing this include:

Contact: Losing a loved one can be extremely traumatic, especially if they are someone that you have regular contact with. Startups are helping people manage this transition by creating AI generated text and images that mimic their loved ones. Though this contact isn’t ‘real’ – it does help soften that transition for those struggling with loss.

Community: Grief can be incredibly isolating, and sometimes it just takes someone else who understands to help you feel better. Community focused apps bring people together and allow them to find comfort in each other, sharing the methods that have helped them manage their grief.

Logistics: The last thing you want to do when grieving is deal with the logistics. Luckily, startups are helping people manage this by allowing them to more easily process logistics like closing down bank accounts, subscriptions and more.

Care: Grief can be a difficult process, so care apps that provide therapy and guidance are making support more accessible. These apps work by allowing people to more easily find support to help them navigate this difficult time.

Here are some companies that are doing just that…

 

 Legacy Compass

 

 

Legacy Compass offers a toolkit that helps individuals navigate the practical, emotional, and financial complexities of loss—whether they are preparing for it or facing it in the wake of a loved one’s passing.

Natalia was inspired to create Legacy Compass after losing both her parents. Like so many, she found herself overwhelmed by the practicalities of death—from notifying authorities and managing assets to grappling with the emotional toll. She realised there had to be a better way, and Legacy Compass was born.

 

Grievy: Grief Support

 

 

Grievy is an app that helps people get the support they need to navigate their grief.

The app provides exercises developed by psychologists to help with processing, as well as ways to come to terms with the loss.

It also provides personalised support, so everyone can get the help that they need.

 

 

Exizent: Berevement Logistics

 

 

Exizent helps people navigate the complicated process of managing a deceased person’s accounts.

This software allows accountants, law firms and families to make the admin process easier during this difficult time.

 

Bank of Memories: Online Memory Vault

 

 

Bank of Memories is an online space to store memories, including photos, videos, voicenotes and more.

The memories are stored on the blockchain, making them secure and unable to be deleted by mistake. This allows people to preserve memories online, allowing them to preserve memories of their loved ones for years to come.

 

Hereafter AI: AI-Based Voice Preservation

 

 

Hereafter AI allows loved ones to talk to the app, preserving voice notes about their lives.

Then, after they have gone, the app allows loved ones to hear these stories and talk to the virtual person. This can help make the transition to acceptance easier by allowing them to hear and hold onto key memories.

 

StoryWorth: Memory Preservation Through Books

 

 

StoryWorth allows families to preserve meaningful memories in a keepsake book.

Every loved one has a whole host of stories to share. By allowing them to answer questions and writing them into a book, it allows families to keep their stories alive for generations to come.

 

Empathy: Bereavement Care Solutions

 

 

Empathy is a care plan designed to help families process and deal with loss.

Whether it’s closing social media accounts, getting support or managing probate, it’s a one stop shop for everything related to loss.

 

Here We Holo: Holographic Tech

 

 

Here We Holo can bring loved ones to life through their holographic tech.

The company creates digital avatars of people that can be recorded and preserved. This can help create long-lasting memories for those that have lost a loved one.