In 2016, Sam Grice’s life changed forever when he got the call that no one wants to receive, telling him that his mother had died in a car accident. Not only was he not emotionally prepared for losing his mum, he was also overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork, legalities, and administrative tasks that he had to navigate while trying to grieve.

Having seen first-hand just how hard death can be, Grice founded Guardian Angel, now better known as Octopus Legacy. A death tech startup designed to help people through the weeks and months following the death of a loved one, the brand has carved out a niche by thinking more holistically about end of life. Over the last eight years, it’s done everything from creating a credit score for death to building a support hub for the bereaved to get help, share memories and streamline communication in one place.

Like Grice, a number of the company’s other employees have personal stories that drew them to work there in the first place. Head of brand and growth marketing, Eliza Elliott, was inspired by how her own granddad prepared for death. “My granddad was very organised and created a folder called his FWIG file, which stands for ‘For when I’m gone’,” she tells CR. It included his life story recorded on tape, a playlist of his desert island discs, instructions on how to fix a recurring leaky tap, and his desire to include a comedy sketch as part of his funeral, among other things.