TECH NEWS
Funding – Settld founder Julie Wilson has secured £ 800,000 in funding for its end-of-life admin platform .
Bereavement tech start-up set to scale
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tech start-up that eases the administrative burden left with bereaved families has set its sights on rapid expansion , after receiving support from a team of innovation experts .
Settld has secured over £ 800,000 for its end-of-life admin platform , which automates bereavement notifications to over 750 companies from banks to social media players .
By digitising the process , Settld reduces the admin stress often left with grieving families and the professionals who support them .
Founded in February 2020 , the company is the brainchild of mother and daughter , Julie and Vicky Wilson , from Seaham , who were inspired to launch the business following the passing of Vicky ’ s late grandmother .
Working full-time and faced with the task of settling her grandmother ’ s finances and assets , it took Vicky and Julie more than six hours on calls , and over eight weeks to sort the accounts , leaving them disillusioned with the process and pondering how it could be improved .
“ The entire process of dealing with my mother-in-law ’ s estate left us incredibly frustrated at a time when we were grieving ,” Julie said .
“ For someone who led such a simple life – without as much as even an online presence – the process took so much time and unnecessary effort . It felt never-ending .
“ It took over two months in total and once we ’ d finally settled everything , Vicky floated
the idea of developing our own solution .”
After crafting a comprehensive business plan and outlining their plans for the platform , the pair were accepted onto the North East SME Innovation Programme – managed by the North East Business and Innovation Centre ( BIC ) – and tapped into support from RTC North and the ERDF-backed Arrow Project at Newcastle University .
This support , as well as grants totalling over £ 185,000 from Innovate UK , provided the pair with everything they needed to officially launch Settld .
The firm has since grown to a team of ten and has closed a £ 500,000 seed funding round , led by SFC Capital , as it looks to go global with its pioneering platform .
Tech firm looks to the future with 10 graduate hires
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global technology solutions provider has bolstered its UK team with 10 new graduate hires .
Saggezza UK , which is headquartered in Sunderland and has teams in London , Edinburgh , Leeds and Birmingham , has welcomed its latest cohort of graduates as part of its annual graduate recruitment initiative .
Since opening its first base in the UK in 2014 , the company has gone on to grow to a team of 125 and ramped up its UK recruitment efforts over the past six months , as it looks to surpass the 200 headcount mark in 2022 .
Central to this has been the expansion
New recruits – tech firm Saggezza UK has welcomed its latest cohort of graduates .
of its annual recruitment programme and the expansion of its Tech Track initiative , which aims to ensure all graduate hires receive the level of support required to hit the ground running while onboarding remotely .
John Wright , talent acquisition manager at Saggezza UK , said : “ We are delighted to welcome this year ’ s cohort of graduates to the company and we are looking forward to working with them as they begin their Saggezza journey .
“ Since opening our first UK office seven years ago , we ’ ve continued to invest yearon-year in our graduate programme and year after year we ’ ve been blown away by the quality of hires it attracts , with many going on to forge really successful careers with the company and I ’ m sure a number of our latest recruits will continue in the same vein .”
Each of the graduate hires will complete their induction training virtually before adopting either a hybrid or fully remote working arrangement , depending on their individual needs .
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