While life expectancy has dramatically increased over the past years, death is still unavoidable. However, we treat death as a taboo subject, but if its something that everyone must face- should it really be “off limits” to discuss? Guardian Angel is responding to that question through its digital platform that helps funerals directors and grieving families manage the chaotic and confusing time following the death of a loved one. The platform simplifies the bereavement process in various ways – like its ‘Key Times’ function which notifies and informs people when they can visit, coordinating communications with funeral directors, and managing support options in a digital manner.
London TechWatch spoke with entrepreneur Sam Grice about how his personal experience with losing his mother led him to develop Guardian Angel.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We closed our pre-seed round with Rod Bulmer and Alistair Asher, former Co-op executives, investing £500K. They have also joined Guardian Angel as strategic advisors.
Guardian Angel has also attracted ex-Goldman Sachs MD Andrew Weisz, as Financial Director.
Tell us about the product or service Guardian Angel offers.
Guardian Angel is a free and private online platform that helps you to manage the bedlam that follows the death of a loved one and supports you through the first few weeks and beyond. It simplifies the bereavement process; connecting families, friends, and funeral directors together and digitising the funeral directors’ offline processes.
The secure platform helps to reduce the stress in the immediate aftermath of a loved one’s death by enabling you to coordinate support from family and friends. There is a ‘Key Times’ function which informs people when they can visit and when you and your family would like to be alone. Its ‘To-Do list’ allows you to manage all tasks and ask friends for help. You can share funeral information privately and it also staggers support, like flower deliveries and food made by friends so they do not all arrive at once.
What inspired you to start Guardian Angel?
When I lost my mother in a road accident, my family and I were catapulted into the chaos of organising a funeral while struggling to manage offers of help and visits from well-meaning friends and family. I looked to technology for help, but it soon became apparent that there was a complete lack of digital efficiency in the end-of-life industry.
This experience led to the creation of Guardian Angel as I knew I wasn’t alone. Most of us have or will experience the death of a loved one and face the same problems that I did.
How is Guardian Angel different?
If you ask anyone who is recently bereaved, they will explain how hard the weeks following a loss can be. Guardian Angel helps people emerge from the haze that descends after a bereavement by offering practical help, privacy and the coordinated support of your family and friends all on one digital platform. There is nothing else like Guardian Angel out there.
What market is Guardian Angel targeting and how big is it?
I am passionate about using technology for good, which is why Guardian Angel is a free support hub for people who are recently bereaved.
We are also working with the funeral industry on the digitisation of its services. The sector, which is worth £2B in the UK, has been slow to move with the times, but we believe that technology can really help in the bereavement process. The response so far has been really encouraging.
How do you approach discovery for your platform, in the sense that when people are most likely to need your offering, they may not be accessible to learning about the value the platform offers?
We are building relationships with Funeral Directors who can then recommend the platform to anyone that is recently bereaved. Families rely on funeral directors for helpful recommendations in the days following the death of a family member or friend. They are a trusted source of information.
My aim is that Guardian Angel will form part of their essential list of must do’s when advising a bereaved family. We are currently building positive relationships with the sector so feel this is very achievable.
My aim is that Guardian Angel will form part of their essential list of must do’s when advising a bereaved family. We are currently building positive relationships with the sector so feel this is very achievable.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
The hardest part is attracting your first investor. But once that happens, interest tends to grow rapidly.
Synchronising the timelines between your company and potential investors is also difficult. Sometimes, you might have an angel investor that is ready to give you money, but they aren’t the right fit and your company isn’t at the right stage for investment.
When the time came for Guardian Angel needing investment, our current investors weren’t quite ready. But we decided to wait as we knew they would be the right fit for our company and had the relevant experience to help us move forward.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
They were attracted to a business which placed huge importance on social good. As one of our investors Rod Bulmer said, “Like many professional services the funeral and end-of-life planning industries are only now starting to go through significant digital change. There is a real opportunity for an independent platform to help families through this process and provide a vehicle to promote active communities discussing the subjects around death openly and honestly. To this point, I don’t think there is anything in the market that is truly independent or that has been executed correctly. This is a real opportunity for Guardian Angel, which has an ethos focused on support.”
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
At the moment we are working with Funeral Directors to help raise awareness about Guardian Angel among their clients and improving and developing our platform. We have several new products and services in our pipeline, which we plan to launch shortly.
What advice can you offer companies in London that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
If a company decides that they need fresh capital, complete focus is required to raise funds as it is a full-time job. Investors will also be impressed by the dedication.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We want to get people talking about death. It’s still a subject that is ‘off limits’ even though it will happen to all of us. We should all be preparing for the inevitable as it will help ease the burden for those you leave behind.
We want to get people talking about death. It’s still a subject that is ‘off limits’ even though it will happen to all of us. We should all be preparing for the inevitable as it will help ease the burden for those you leave behind.
Through Guardian Angel’s existing digital platform and new products and services in the pipeline, we believe this is possible.
What is your favorite restaurant in London?
I love to visit Brick Lane’s curry houses as often as I can and have managed to never go to the same place twice. My father, who lives in New Zealand, and I usually meet up here when he is in London and it’s great to discuss new ideas with him as he is an entrepreneur too.
