LumenUs, a grief care technology startup, is developing an artificial intelligence platform to help families manage the administrative responsibilities that follow the death of a loved one.

The company’s founder, Sara Tashakorinia, experienced these challenges firsthand when her husband died in a car accident eight years ago.
She said settling a deceased person’s affairs can involve approximately 570 hours of paperwork, adding significant stress to an already painful period of grief.

Following her experience, Tashakorinia began volunteering to help other grieving families navigate the complex processes she had struggled to understand.

She eventually recognised that artificial intelligence could simplify some of the administrative responsibilities associated with death, including locating tax documents, filing insurance claims and closing bank accounts.

This insight led her to establish LumenUs last year to reduce the burden on families dealing with loss.

The platform is designed to guide users through the process of settling a loved one’s affairs by first gathering information about their legal, financial and personal circumstances.

It then organises the necessary tasks according to urgency, helping families determine which responsibilities require immediate attention and which can be postponed.

The system may also help users identify financial benefits they are entitled to receive, including life insurance payments that frequently go unclaimed because beneficiaries are unaware of their existence.

Tashakorinia said the goal is to use artificial intelligence to automate as much administrative work as possible while giving grieving families more time to focus on their emotional well being.

Given the sensitive nature of the information involved, the company’s cybersecurity considerations are particularly important.

Tashakorinia is developing the platform alongside co founders Sajad Mirzaei, a former engineer at Google and Box, and Larry Keeley, an innovation scientist, professor and entrepreneur.

The team is also consulting clinicians and social workers as it tests the product.

LumenUs hopes to expand its services beyond immediate post death administration to support people throughout the grieving process.

The startup has been selected to participate in Startup Battlefield 200, an initiative that showcases promising early stage companies.

The company plans to launch an early access version of its platform in October, marking its first major step towards making administrative support more accessible to families experiencing bereavement.

Source: TechCrunch