Death tech startup
Hello, you’re here right at the beginning of Sarah Giblin’s new startup called Whenn. Whenn helps us prepare better for the practicalities of death in the digital age. Early beta testers get access through Patreon: www.patreon.com/sarahgiblin. If you’d rather wait for the full launch, sing up at www.whenn.com.
What is death tech?
Death tech is an industry using technology to support us practically when someone dies. This includes will writers, funeral services, cryogenic tech and professional services like counsellors, therapists, lawyers and accountants.
“I know death is not many people’s favourite topic. That’s why I’m moving into this space.”
Much in the way we rely on technology in other important areas - like communication, banking and healthcare - the process of handling the death of someone close to us is a serious and profound part of life. It is huge emotionally and in terms of organisation.
It may seem unlikely to some, but there are parts of the process can be made less challenging with purpose-built technology, allowing us to focus on what is important when the time comes.
Words from the founder, Sarah Giblin
“I know death is not many people’s favourite topic. That’s why I’m moving into this space.
When I became aware it would be me - that I would look after my parents’ lives after their deaths - I tried speaking to them and realised they didn’t want to talk about it.
Over the last decade, I created a method that gently helped my parents and me have these important conversations in life, to make it easier for us to prepare at least a little for this event and return to living life together.
Based on this experience, I’m building a digital tool to help us all prepare for the practicalities around death in the digital age. Think of it as the modern way to get your affairs in order.”
Sarah’s move into death tech
Sarah started sketching out this idea in 2016 and again during the first 2020 lockdown. The illness of her mother in 2021 and the death of her father in Spring 2022 focussed her decision to close her first business, Riut with secure backpack RiutBag, and turn to the important field of death next.
Coming from a background in law, classical music and financial services, she started her first company reinventing the humble backpack to make it more secure for city travel. The purpose was to give her users a purpose-made tool to travel with greater peace of mind, reduce stress and help city dwellers be more open towards each other.
Her new app has a similar goal: it is designed to support us with the practicalities ahead when a parent, partner or relative dies. Whilst these are not events we enjoy thinking about, they are often made more difficult by a lack of preparation and communication. The goal is helping us to approach the topic of death, prepare simply and then get back to living life together with peace of mind.
Please get involved
Sarah Giblin builds her companies openly, online, explaining her process, involving her future users along the way and explaining the challenges she encountered. The same is true of her new company in the death tech space. Take part in her surveys to help build her new company and app. It will help Sarah build something that reflects our real and varied lives, so that it can really help us prepare for the practicalities of death with habit more confidence and greater peace of mind.
Whether you’re interested in the app, starting your own company or just want to see something new being created, please join us. Sarah’s design philosophy is this: Revolution in user thinking. She revolves all her thinking around her users and creating the best thing she can for them. She asks her users for feedback and builds this into her designs. Finally, Sarah is a user herself. She builds things that she needs in her own life and makes things that can have a positive impact for others too.