A new Perth SAAS (software as a service) startup is tackling our life-after-death admin with a one-of-a-kind new digital locker.
The brainchild of former mining CFO Paul Kamarudin and teacher Leanne Russell, Anticipate Life is a web-based application that stores everything our loved ones will need to sort our affairs after we die.
From the streaming services and social media accounts that need to be cancelled, to the music we’d like played at our funeral and who gets the dog, key information can be organised and securely stored online ready for our Executor or Nominee to access when the time comes.
Anticipate Life is believed to be the first purpose-built digital locker of its kind in the world and its developers hope it will change our approach to end-of-life planning.
“Dying and the practicalities of what happens when we are no longer here is something people are reticent to talk about. We saw an opportunity to give people the means to both organise their life-after-death admin and start those important conversations,” Ms Russell said.
A subscription-based service designed to supplement a Will, Anticipate Life took two years to develop.
User data is safeguarded by global gold-standard infrastructure and robust encryption and privacy protocols. Once the subscriber has passed away, only then can their Executor or Nominee have read only access to the information.
Mr Kamarudin said the idea for Anticipate Life was born after the couple had attended the funeral of a relative and began discussing their own end-of-life plans.
“The initial thought was that Anticipate Life would take about six months to create an MVP, but the more we delved into the concept and features, the more complex and time-consuming it became,” he said.
One of the biggest challenges was being clear about the problem they were attempting to solve, then researching and asking the right questions.
“Then, when we started to put together the wireframes and initial workflows, we needed to be confident we could put the technology in front of a 75-year-old and they would be able to use it,” Mr Kamarudin said. “This drove the design and many other elements.”
Mr Kamarudin, who also has a degree in computing, looked after much of the wireframing, product flow and initial programming, while Ms Russell continued to teach fulltime, study parttime for her Doctorate in Leadership and spend any spare time on the fledgling business.
Data security was an obvious priority, along with tracking sales tax for users around the world.
“Being able to track sales tax on a user in Alabama or VAT in the United Kingdom is complicated and there are reporting triggers based around product, customers and the number of times you bill,” Mr Kamarudin said.
The couple had previously run a software business together in Mauritius where they had become friends with Queensland based lawyers Bernadette and Max Fulton.
“They came on board as our business partners and their legal experience has been of great value in the development of Anticipate Life,” Mr Kamarudin said.
“Together we have created a beautiful, easy-to-use product that won’t break the bank, but does give greater peace of mind to everyone who uses it.
“We know it is making a positive difference to people’s lives and that makes us happy.”
The entrepreneurs’ number one tip for others with plans for a tech startup?
“Find a key problem and then think about how to solve it. Don’t build a product and then find an audience,” Mr Kamarudin said.
Find out more by visiting https://anticipate.life/
