Inalife, a fresh startup, has introduced a digital legacy platform aimed at assisting families in preserving their cherished memories. This platform allows users to create interactive family trees and record messages for future playback, such as when a child grows up and becomes an adult.
The company, based in Hong Kong, initially launched its desktop application in July, attracting a few hundred users. However, it is now looking to gain more traction with the imminent release of its mobile apps for iOS and Android, scheduled for next week.
Nicholas Worley, the founder and CEO of Inalife, was inspired to create the platform after losing family members and realizing that he wished he had known more about their life stories.
“The initial idea came to me after my paternal grandfather passed away in 1999 from prostate cancer, and my maternal grandmother passed away the same year from Alzheimer’s,” Worley shared with TechCrunch. “After they passed away, I had a dream in which I saw them at my age, 16, and when I woke up, I realized I knew very little about them beyond them being my grandparents. This included what they were like at my age, what they sounded like when they were young, or what their life stories were. That realization made me incredibly sad,” he continued.
“I wanted to find a way to preserve our family’s memories at that point, and I kept thinking about it over time,” he explained.
The idea continued to simmer until he became a parent himself when his son was born in 2019. This event encouraged Worley to move forward with his concept. After the birth of his twin sons in 2021 and the loss of his mother-in-law the following year, he formulated a plan to launch the business, aiming to help others preserve their digital legacies.
To utilize Inalife, users can sign up for free, which provides them with a “memory allowance” of 100MB of storage. They can create profiles, adding information about themselves and library albums containing photos, videos, audio files, and documents. For more storage or to create sub-accounts, users can upgrade to a paid subscription plan. These plans start at $5.99 per month for 5GB and go up to 30GB for $19.99 per month. Additional storage can be added at a rate of $1.99 per 1GB.
Once an account is set up, users can connect with family members by adding them to their family tree. Each member receives an invitation and can specify their relationship. After joining, they can explore the family tree, learn more about other family members, and contribute their own albums and profile information. Sub-accounts can also be created for deceased family members or those too young to create their profiles. (Children can take control of their profiles through a transfer process when they get older.)
Additionally, users can send messages to family members for future listening.
“The time-delayed messages are an innovative way to preserve time capsule memories, allowing loved ones to receive them at a specified date in the future,” explained Worley.
Users can also designate someone to manage their account in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Worley emphasized that personal family data is not shared with third parties, and the apps are ad-free because they are supported by subscriptions.
With the mobile app launch planned for September 5, Inalife’s founder aims to reach a wider audience.
“With nearly 7 billion people using smartphones worldwide and our most treasured photos and memories stored on them, launching the app versions of Inalife was the next step in our plan to bring families closer together and enable them to connect across generations,” stated Worley in an announcement. “As we continue to grow our subscriber base, we are excited about the company’s prospects and are committed to providing customers with an authentic and valuable family experience while educating users worldwide about the importance of preserving their digital legacies,” he concluded.
