How Restify plans to end the stigma around death by future-proofing families
Melbourne-based Restify is building an end-of-life management platform for first-generation immigrants that empowers families to navigate their toughest moments.
Melbourne-based Restify was born out of a “lived experience of our family on a sudden loss of my father-in-law and the difficulties faced during that time”, shares co-founder Devipriya Selvaraj who founded the business along with her husband Karthikeyan Viswanathan.
On Wednesday night in Melbourne, Restify was one of five startups competing at SmartCompany‘s early-stage startup competition, the Pitch.
In a room full of fellow startup founders and investors, Restify pitched to an esteemed judging panel consisting of Maxine Lee, chief operating officer at Skalata VC; Mark Newman, LaunchVic’s startup programs manager; Sarah Green, co-founder of Protagonist Capital; and William Hasko, director of small business marketing for Dell Technologies in Australia, India, and Japan.
The competition’s grand prize saw the winner, housing design startup Oltre, walk away with a $10,000 technology hardware pack and access to a mentoring program from Dell Technologies and Dell For Startups.
Selvaraj, who is an Infosys project manager and also the co-founder of BibVault, says the company is building an end-of-life management platform for first-generation immigrants that empowers families to navigate their toughest moments through empathetic end-of-life education, human connection and support.
The Restify platform aims to reduce stress and anxiety, while also saving families time and money.
“It functions as a comprehensive resource, offering support for all aspects of death-related matters, including will planning, funeral arrangements, communication with other loved ones and emotional support for the family,” Selvaraj tells SmartCompany.
“We want to break the stigma around death and future-proof the families by preparing them for life’s worst situation,” says the second-time founder.
During their personal experience, the Restify team found more than 16 different touchpoints after the passing away of a loved one that required them to spend more than 18 hours to work through, from contacting emergency services, to documentation, and more.
Talking about the market for Restify’s offering, Selvaraj points to the burgeoning immigrant population in the country.
“Australia being multicultural and more than 50% of the population being immigrants, we are looking at a market of about 3.5 million families in Australia,” she says.
The software for the Restify platform is under development and Selvaraj expects the beta version will be available later in the year in November.
However, there is already a huge waiting list for the startup’s product.
“We are currently in problem-to-solution fit mode with 250-plus families on our waiting list and it is growing every day. We are also engaging with various community leaders and funeral directors,” she says on Restify’s next steps as it prepares for launch.
Restify also recently won the Wynnovation Pitch Festival 2024, a startup competition organised by Wyndham City Council, which saw the startup take home $10,000.
Are you ready to pitch to a panel of leading VCs and startup founders? Applications to the Pitch are now open for Sydney!
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