Hi Ellen, it’s great to meet you. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Would you mind introducing yourself and your business to our readers?
Hi! I’m Ellen Goodwin, co-founder and Chief Solutions Officer of Artifcts.
Artifcts is where your ‘stuff’ and stories meet. There’s no reason why all the items we collect and accumulate in life should be a burden today or become one on future generations. Our web and mobile based app guides people with the ease of social media but the privacy of a curated collection through a fun and engaging experience to capture the stories and histories behind their belongings using any combination of photos, video, and audio along with the details about their objects.
We’ve positioned Artifcts at the intersection of agetech, insuretech, healthtech and even fintech. We all know that homes and cars are the average homeowner’s most valuable assets. The accumulation of ‘stuff’ we own is right behind that but represents so much more than financial value, it has emotional value too, and that’s how we contribute to all of these spheres.
That sounds like a fantastic product and idea. I know most of us have things we remember from our childhood that our grandparents would show us, let us play with, or tell us a story about. Can you tell us more about how Artifcts works?
We know from our oldest Artifcts members – between the ages of 70 and 97 – that they feel less lonely when they Artifct with peers or intergenerationally, more valued through sharing of their stories with loved ones, and better prepared for end-of-life.
With each Artifct, they capture a piece of themselves and give shape and texture to their legacy. They experience less stress over the “what ifs” because they can contribute Artifcts to their wills and estate plans and know they are leaving behind memories, not burdens, on loved ones and intentionally transfer wealth to the next generation.
We’ve empowered them to consider the trade-offs for their daily lives, too, between the sentimental and financial value items may hold. No one wants your pins collection? Great, feel less guilt selling it and reinvesting that money in daily living, love of travel, hobbies, and more. There’s even the reassurance that they gain knowing they are adequately insured because they can easily share their Artifcts with their insurers, and, if they lose an item, they have the resources in their Artifct to easily file an insurance claim.
Incredible. I love that you go beyond the idea of maintaining memories and there’s potentially a practical use that ties into estate planning and that sort of thing. Would you mind sharing a little about how Artifcts came to be?
The genesis of Artifcts was the unexpected passing of my co-founder Heather Nickerson’s mother when she was only 64. Her estate plan and financials were in perfect order but all those “tangible assets” were left to Heather and her siblings to “divide equally.”
Even had they known the financial value of the thousands of objects, that would not have been enough to guide them in their grief through what to keep and what to let go of. They wanted the memories and stories of their mother. No spreadsheet, sticky note, journal, or sit-down interview would have done that for them. They needed something better. So, we built it. And as with any product, it’s taken on a life of its own to become so much more for people at all stages of life.
That’s such an amazing story built out of a background of tragedy. What is the status of Artifcts in this space today?
We publicly launched in August 2021 after a brief beta in May 2021. During the winter of 2021-22 we were invited into the AARP Innovation Labs where we are now a portfolio company and member of the AARP AgeTech Collaborative. We’ve completed our first integration with Heritage Auctions, one of the world’s largest collectibles auction houses, which provides our paid members free valuations. Valuations give people a bit more information to help with their decision on whether to keep an item, how to treat it legally and financially, and deter fraud if third parties are going to “take that off their hands and dispose of it” and actually turn around and sell it. We’ll be working with our first collaboratives in the moving, decluttering, and insurance industries during 2023 as well.
We’re a female-owned, revenue-generating, bootstrapped start-up with a strong runway. We will be keeping an eye on the markets for the right time to potential undertake our first raise.
On top of all that, we’re highly collaborative, as many of our existing partners will attest. Later this quarter we’ll be launching what we call Allies in ‘Stuff.’ We know Artifcts is one component of the ‘stuff’ equation. We hope to move together with others in the ‘stuff’ space toward integrations for insurance, financial planning, senior living, and even testing blockchain application to the end-of-life legal aspects of validation of legacy contacts and transfers of ownership.
Thanks again for taking the time to speak with us Ellen, it’s been great learning a little about Artifcts its background.
Learn more about Artifcts at https://artifcts.com/.
Longevitech TLV 2023 takes place across 13th – 14th February.
