Portland-based Easeenet has a product on the market and annual monthly recurring revenue from more than 2,600 paying subscribers.
Nonetheless, the startup is joining the Mass Challenge accelerator for the group’s latest cohort in Austin.
The goal: use the accelerator as a feeder into a partnership with AARP.
Easeenet has built an online platform that stores, organizes and updates in real-time passwords and important documents that can be accessed by loved ones and estate executors after someone dies or is incapacitated.
Founders Erin McCune and Andrew Kallenberger started the company after both handled a loved one’s digital estate and saw the complexity of the process firsthand.
“We wanted to take the sting out to a certain level. When you are in the worst day of your life anyway, it’s hard enough dealing with the emotional pieces let along having to slog through the estate piece and have to figure out where to find the information and how to get access,” said McCune.
Easeenet is a password manager and digital vault. Using a browser extension, the software will prompt users to update and add passwords as they go about daily Internet use. The manager also organizes and categorizes sites.
McCune said that password managers typically offer a giant list of websites and passwords. It’s then up to the user to figure out the difference between a retirement or bank account versus social media or a store the person shopped at once three years ago.
Easeenet is also a repository for all the rest-of-your-life details. It has a journaling feature as well as other prompts to ask where important items are, like safe deposit box keys.
The product launched live in April 2020. It has paid subscribers and generates $11,000 in monthly recurring revenue.
The company’s strategy for customer acquisition has four elements:
- adding to existing employee benefits
- working with estate planning and financial advisers
- working with funeral directors for pre-planned funerals
- partnering with organizations like AARP
That last element is where Mass Challenge comes in, said McCune. In addition to the mentorship from the program, the accelerator is a feeder into an AARP innovation lab. McCune hopes to get into that lab.
A partnership with AARP has the potential to boost sales. Oregon telecommunication company Consumer Cellular was transformed after it became a partner with AARP more than a decade ago. By targeting older consumers, the company surpassed $1 billion in sales before selling in 2019.
McCune said the space has a few competitors but no one has taken the lead.
“A lot of it will come down to being the easiest to use,” she said. “We hear that we are a daily use tool.”
The startup has three full-time team members, including the two founders. McCune was most recently strategic alliances manager at Portland software maker OpenSesame. Kallenberger has years working in tech, particularly in database and web development.
The company is so far self-funded and bootstrapped. McCune expects to evaluate raising a round at the end of Mass Challenge. The startup has participated in several support programs including the local TIE XL Bootcamp, Seattle Angel Conference, Angel Oregon Tech and Founder Gym.
Closer Look:
Easeenet
What it does: Manages an online platform that stores passwords and important documents that can be accessed after someone dies or is incapacitated
Founders: Erin McCune and Andrew Kallenberger
Subscribers: 2,600
Timeline:
2018: Erin McCune first sees the need for a product such as Easeenet.
Aug. 2018: First developer hired to build the product
April 2020: Product launches
May 2021: Easeenet participates in Angel Oregon Tech
June 2021: Easeenet selected for the Mass Challenge accelerator.
