Rotterdam – Chaired by Philips CEO Frans van Houten the jury of seven big players in business chose Closure as the winner of the Philips Innovation Award. Their mission is to unburden relatives in the difficult situation following the loss of a beloved one. They do this by automatically finishing subscriptions, contracts and (social media) accounts. Victory of the 30th edition of this event, including the prize of €50.000, shows that there is a clear need for the service of Closure.
Jury comments stated that Closure tackles a problem shared by all of us. Even though they have only started since August 2017, Closure will start a pilot per the 1st of June thanks to the competent team. For that reason, the jury recognized great potential to eliminate a big – and continuously growing – burden in society by exploiting their scalable business model. As a proud winner, Closure is determined to realize its vision. “During the pilot that we will start per the 1st of June with two large companies and one of the largest funeral insurers in the Netherlands, we will further validate and optimize our service to both relatives and companies. Consequently, we can increase our value and grow faster.” explains co-founder Chantal van der Velde.
Almost everyone knows someone that is still present on Facebook or LinkedIn, while that person is not there anymore. This is painful. For relatives finishing social media, but also telecom, utilities, magazines and all other subscriptions, contracts and (online) accounts after a passing often takes much time. It comes with unnecessary costs and implies a constant confrontation with their loss. Validation research of Closure showed that this last issue is especially painful. Closure unburdens relatives by informing all relevant companies on their behalf. In a transparent dashboard, relatives can easily see what is finished and what companies Closure still awaits a confirmation from.
Costs for this service are carried by companies. For them, the process of reporting a passing is a problem as well. Multiple contact moments with relatives result in high customer support costs. Moreover, employees have to deal with a very sensitive topic and the risk for reputation damage is significant. Therefore, Closure provides a valuable solution for them too. Standardized notifications require only limited time investments of companies, thereby saving high costs. Even more so, the process is experienced way more positively by relatives.
More information on the service can be found on www.closure.nl
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