Hong Kong entrepreneur Nick Worley left his career in public relations to found Inalife. This new digital legacy platform allows you to build a picture of your family tree, preserve and share memories, and record messages for loved ones to mark their life’s milestones. We speak to Nick about how he came up with the idea for Inalife, and how he wants to change how we remember our loved ones from one generation to the next.
How did you come up with the idea for Inalife?
I have been thinking about family memories since I was 16, when two of my grandparents passed away in the same year. I had a dream about what they were like at my age, but realised that I didn’t know anything about them when they were young – what they sounded like, or any of their stories – and it made me incredibly sad. I carried that with me for many years, and after my first son was born, I decided to move forward with what would eventually become Inalife. I want people to be able to connect safely and securely to preserve and share authentic memories of their loved ones for now and for the future, so that no one is ever forgotten.
Many people set up an email account for their kids, or even create physical albums. How does Inalife differ to these more conventional options?
There are a few ways we’ve differentiated ourselves:
- Inalife is subscription-based to keep memories safe and secure. There are no ads; users own all their content and they decide who can view it.
- Inalife gives you more depth and breadth. Its focus is on multi-generational digital archiving, preserving family members’ memories so that their descendants will be able to click on their bios and learn about them in their own words. It allows you to build out your family tree, allowing everyone to explore and learn more about their loved ones.
How do you get started on the platform?
First, users sign up for a free account and create a profile. They can fill out their details and add memories in the form of photos, videos, audio files and documents, to their bio. Then they can connect to their relatives and start building out their family tree. They can click on other family members and access their memories too. For relatives who have passed, or children too young for their own accounts, you can create a “sub-account” and add memories on their behalf. When the children become older, you can pass control of the account over to them. Imagine seeing a video of your first steps, and being able to share that with your own children or grandchildren!
What other functions do you offer?
Inalife allows you to send time-delayed messages (TDMs) which are sent to the recipient on a day that you set. For example, you can prepare a message now for your child to receive on their 21st birthday. You also have the option to fill in health information, which might help your relatives assess their disease risk. There are also “deep-dive” questions such as “how did you meet your partner?” or “what are your favourite childhood memories?” which can help to flesh out memories and build a full picture of an individual.
What’s your long-term vision for Inalife?
My long term vision is to make sure that no one is ever forgotten over generations. I want Inalife to outlive me far into the future, and for it to continue evolving with changing technologies to let families safely preserve and protect an authentic account of who they were for future descendants.
In partnership with Inalife
