North East Entrepreneur Takes Centre Stage At World’s Biggest Tech Conference

A pioneering North East company founder took centre stage at the world's biggest tech conference last week to shine a light on a hugely popular UK bereavement service which is helping to eradicate unnecessary admin stress for those dealing with the death of a loved one.

Tech entrepreneur Vicky Wilson, from Seaham, County Durham founded bereavement startup Settld, which launched its free service to the public earlier this year. The business is changing the way bereaved families handle end-of-life admin, by removing much of the unnecessary angst involved when multiple companies need to be individually notified of a death. Wilson believes the tech she's developed could be the solution to a global end of life admin problem.

Wilson was invited to address an audience of 20,000 from the main stage at Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal - which is billed as the world’s most influential tech event, and which Forbes describes as the “best technology conference on the planet”.

Settld’s free service allows members of the public in the UK to notify over 750 companies of a death in one go - from banks and insurers to energy firms, mobile providers, subscription services and others. It also allows users to close, transfer or amend accounts and obtain date of death balances..

Settld’s co-founder and CEO, Vicky Wilson, said: “There’s an enormous amount of unnecessary stress for bereaved individuals, not just in the UK but around the world, and particularly over the last 18 months of the pandemic.

“I am convinced that Settld’s technology can be the global solution to a global end-of-life problem, and will help to alleviate stress for millions of grieving families worldwide.”

Wilson founded Settld after dealing with the nightmare of closing her grandmother’s personal and household accounts following her death in 2019. Settld now automates the admin and notification process.

The young businesswoman also founded the Bereavement Standard campaign which has the support of more than 93,000 people and calls for better treatment for bereaved customers.

Wilson, and Settld co-founder Julie Wilson, Vicky’s mother, are finalists at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards taking place later this month.