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The Solace, tech entrepreneur Mark Legge’s new online death memorial service, is in talks with a major Dutch newspaper to power its digital obituary offering.
Legge, who co-founded gifting firm &Open, launched The Solace earlier this year.
The online service aims to help people through grief, offering traditional obituary services and technology for co-ordinating funerals and creating digital memorials with photos, videos and stories.
Legge told the Sunday Independent that The Solace was in “early-stage” talks with a newspaper in The Netherlands, adding no deal had yet been agreed.
However, international opportunities are something the business will continue to target.
“It’s clear our model has relevance well beyond Ireland,” he said.
Legge said he had been encouraged by the company’s early progress.
We’ve successfully onboarded around 10pc of the overall market
The Solace has focused domestically on partnerships with larger, multi-location funeral directors.
“These represent approximately 30pc of the Irish market by volume, with the remaining 70pc being single-location independents.
“To date, we’ve successfully onboarded around 10pc of the overall market, including leading names like Massey Bros, Rom Massey & Sons, and RHEA.”
The Solace is also set to launch a partnership with the Progressive Credit Union in August, which would see its offering included within its funeral planning packages.
Legge has been developing The Solace since January 2024, before the Irish Times acquired RIP.ie.
He believes technology in the sector is starting to shift, not because of increasing competition, but changing expectations around how people remember loved ones.
The Sunday Independent also understands The Solace is close to closing its seed funding round.
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