Maintaining lasting digital legacies with Zephorum, finalist at the Global LegalTech Venture Days

IE Law School launched the Global LegalTech Venture Days with the goal to foster innovation and entrepreneurship while bridging the gap between startups, thought leaders, investors and accelerators across the legal sector.

This year’s event in Italy, organized by IE Law School, LexisNexis and the Law Schools Global League (LSGL) han, was hosted by University of Turin and welcomed keynote speakers, panel discussions and a competition evaluating ideas presented by several participating startups. Zephorum secured its place as one of the three finalists in the final competition.

The startup is a one-of-a-kind “webetery”—the first online ecosystem for digital estates and memorials. This unique startup combines two flagship products, Urn and Mausoleum, to enclose an individual’s entire digital existence. Each user chooses what should happen with their digital data after death; Zephorum then allows the deceased’s family members to download and remove information from social media platforms for private use with Urn or public commemoration via Mausoleum.

In the true spirit of the startup competition, Zephorum seeks to solve a modern-day challenge with implications for the legal field. Its CEO, Giulia Salis, shared the motivation behind the company’s creation: “The persistence of digital information is becoming a problem, and it is destined to increase as the use of the Internet becomes more pervasive. As users approach the end of their lives, they will need a tool to manage their digital legacy and their families will need the opportunity to manage their loved ones’ digital estates.” Without Zephorum, this is a complex, lengthy and costly process, especially in light of the global pandemic which has accelerated the use of digital information. According to Giulia, “Over 20% of people over 65 years old are now active social media users—a figure that’s even higher in Italy at 35%.”

Zephorum believes that, as more people start to see their digital profiles as a part of their identity, they will require innovative ways to handle their digital memories and inheritance. Leveraging technologies from e-commerce and social media, the startup has developed a standardized legal procedure that begins once a user purchases the service through their online platform. One of Zephorum’s upcoming services, the Biopic, will use AI to create a video reel of an individual’s life.

“As users approach the end of life, they will need a tool to manage their digital legacy.”

For Giulia and her team, success means operating globally as the first “webetery” in the world. Their appearance at this year’s Global LegalTech Venture Days allowed the team to build an international network of contacts to make this goal become a reality. These connections were based on a common interest in legal matters, opening the door for collaboration and the exchange of ideas, tools and resources.

Giulia sees legaltech playing a bigger role in our lives in the future. “Our rights and duties are written in the law and, since we are living our existences online more and more, we need to be protected and act according to specific regulations. Because we’re not just users; we’re people.”

Zephorum met great success at the Global LegalTech Venture Days thanks to their innovative thinking and insights into the legaltech sector. To aspiring entrepreneurs, Giulia offers some words of advice: “Do it. With rationality and logic, of course. But if you came up with something unique and valuable, go for it!”