The story of MittArv and its mission to preserve legacies.
“I have written you letters, letters will be coming to you all sorts of ways…Letter No1 will be arriving tomorrow, now you must do it what I say…”
A sequence from the larger-than-life film “PS.I Love You,” adapted from Cecelia Ahern’s novel, showed the bereaved wife Holly received a tape on her 30th birthday from her late husband Gerry. The tape tells that Holly will be receiving letters from her late husband Gerry in a different phase of life.
The purpose of the letters was to provide the bereaved widow with inspiration, hope, and strength while also giving her the impression that her husband is supporting her through all of life’s challenges.
Imagine if your loved ones could leave behind the piece of them in form of audio, visual or maybe digital asset listing before they rest in peace. Mirroring the same idea was the inception of MittArv.
Vishal Mehta, Founder and Director – MittArv says,“MittArv, derived from the Swedish word for “my legacy”, and was born out of personal experience, particularly during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
It was a wake-up call when one of his fellow batchmates from IIM Calcutta passed away, leaving behind a two-year-old daughter.
The incident struck a chord with him, as his son was only six months old at the time, and it ignited a fear about what might happen to his family if anything were to happen to him, thus he decided to start this venture.
Vishal has discovered his assets were scattered and unorganized, despite having designated family members as nominees. Tools like Google Drive existed but were not sufficient for the purpose, a dedicated platform was required to organize and document his assets.
He aimed to create a comprehensive legacy for their loved ones. “Through our application, we aim to make end-of-life planning more accessible and manageable, ensuring that vital information and assets are organized and easily accessible to beneficiaries,” Vishal shares.
Destigmatizing and encouraging end of life planning
Today, some people are terrified of taking life insurance, some people doesn’t want to think beyond their death and end of life planning is itself a stigma.
The startup was initially centered around the concept of death tech. Sooner they realized that the word “death” carries significant stigma. Instead, they transformed their focus in emphasizing the creation of legacies.
“It’s a discovery process for us as well. We start with certain hypotheses, attempting them, and depending on the feedback, we adjust. Initially, we proposed end-of-life planning, but upon hearing customer feedback, we shifted to legacy planning. In essence, it’s about creating our own identity, or ‘apni pehchaan,’ for our loved ones to remember us fondly as time goes on. We’re constantly evolving our narrative to better align with our product,” says Vishal.
Through platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, we encourage people to consider building a legacy for themselves. While society often celebrates prominent figures like freedom fighters or entertainers as legacy builders, they believe that ‘every individual within a family can be a hero in their own last right.’
“Our messaging revolves around empowering individuals to preserve and protect their legacies. We’ve chosen to concentrate on addressing the more accessible aspects of end-of-life planning, avoiding the need to confront thoughts of mortality,” says Vishal.
Vishal agrees the current succession planning landscape often favors high net worth individuals, neglecting the middle and upper-middle class. However, his approach aims to democratize succession planning by offering services like asset consolidation, family communication, and templated wills.
Vishal adds, “Moving forward, we’re not afraid to experiment. We have an in-house content and digital marketing team focused on generating thought-provoking content that subtly encourages people to consider creating their own legacy. This approach will continue as we refine our strategies over time.”
Platform features
The platform was established in March 2022, and they launched the Android app in August 2023, with basic features available for free forever. The basic features, including asset listing, asset sharing with family members, and composing posthumous messages, will continue to be accessible at no cost.
“The basics, writing the basics, is always going to remain free. We offer up to three text files or three audio files or three minutes of video recording for free. Anything beyond that would be payable as a premium feature. The idea of emotional will really is interesting.”
Premium features will be introduced gradually, with some slated for deployment in the next three to four months.
However, subscription-based premium features, particularly those tailored towards NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) and HNIs (High Net Worth Individuals), will be introduced to enhance the offering and cater to specific user needs. They have plans to launch it on iOS and web.
When someone creates an emotional will or lists assets, they can specify whether they want to deliver it posthumously or when they are terminally ill. For assets, real-time delivery is also possible.
The platform operates on the principle of communicating through trusted contacts. If a user remains inactive for 90 to 120 days, the platform initiates communication with their trusted contacts to verify their well-being. If an issue is identified, trusted contacts are requested to notify the platform.
Depending on the user’s status on the application, data or information designated for posthumous delivery will be released accordingly.
Vishal also expressed, “While platforms like Digilocker exist, our solution offers a more collaborative experience. Users can designate nominees such as spouses or parents upon registering in the app. Our system operates on the concept of trusted contacts, meaning we trust those whom you trust. Upon registration, users are encouraged to add trusted contacts. The underlying principle is straightforward: trust is placed in those whom the user trusts.”
Tech behind the platform
The platform utilizes a proprietary algorithm known as the Customer Lifecycle Identification Algorithm (CLSI), which enables the adjustment of the timeframe for user activity monitoring.
This algorithm ensures that customers remain active on the application at least once every quarter, or once every 90 days. If a user fails to engage with the application for more than 90 days, the platform initiates communication with their trusted contacts to confirm their well-being.
The 90-days timeframe is subject to modification based on user feedback. In the future, users may also have the option to select their preferred duration for activity monitoring.
The platform currently lacks a mechanism for authentication, but potential collaborations with services like Digilocker could enable this in future. It focuses on storing and sharing information without direct validation, with human-to-human authentication processes.
The user data is encrypted, and they use Azure cloud service provider. He emphasized that access to customer data is restricted, with aggregated data used for analytics and customer-specific data inaccessible even to the platform’s leadership team.
Currently, the platform is not generating revenue, they have plans to implement a subscription model for premium features in the future. Their overarching goal is to provide comprehensive end-of-life planning support and facilitate execution with the assistance of collaborators and partners.
“One thing our leadership team emphasizes is that we spend our lives earning for ourselves and our families. However, if they face financial or emotional challenges after our passing and are unaware of our plans, then we haven’t fulfilled our duty properly. It’s not just about accumulating wealth, but also ensuring our loved ones have stability and support even in our absence,” says Vishal.
In life, everyone’s story weaves its unique threads, contributing to the collective narrative of humanity. As death marks the end of one chapter, it does not signify the conclusion of the tale. Technologies like MittArv immortalize one’s existence, ensuring that even as our physical presence fades, the essence of our lives endures.
MittArv’s technologies eternalize one’s existence, ensuring that even as our physical presence fades, the essence of our lives endures, as everyone’s story is unique.
