\u201cMy whole career, on and off the court, has been about stepping up decisively in the moments that matter most,\u201d Westbrook wrote in a statement to CNBC. Westbrook and the Nuggets are currently facing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Western Conference semifinals. \u201cEazewell is exactly that \u2014 a decisive solution to a very real problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
The Los Angeles-based company uses AI to curate funeral options catered to each user\u2019s budgets and preferences. The platform assists with paperwork, budget planning, invitations and overlooked tasks such as canceling a deceased loved one\u2019s utility bills and social media accounts. Eazewell currently has 11 employees and has already tested its beta platform with more than 1,000 families.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eazewell has not disclosed funding but has revenue agreements with partner services. The startup is also working on partnerships with finance and life insurance companies in the space. The service is free to use and does not have an ads component \u201cat this stage,\u201d a company spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to take the weight off people\u2019s shoulders as much as we can, and make this process so much easier for people,\u201d Walker told CNBC in a phone interview. Walker played college basketball with Beverly at the University of Connecticut.<\/p>\n
Eazewell traces its origins to Westbrook and Beverly\u2019s high school days, when their friend and basketball teammate Khelcey Barrs III passed away unexpectedly from an enlarged heart. Westbrook commemorates Barrs to this day by wearing a bracelet with the initials \u201cKB3\u201d in every NBA game he plays and on his signature Jordan Why Not Zer0.6 \u201cKhelcey Barrs\u201d shoe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a reminder that life can change in an instant,\u201d Westbrook said. \u201cYou don\u2019t get to choose the moment, but you do get to choose how you respond.\u201d<\/p>\n
The experience left a lasting effect on the two friends, Beverly said, but it wasn\u2019t until the death of Beverly\u2019s parents that he experienced funeral planning hurdles firsthand. Beverly said the experience was \u201cmessy\u201d and \u201cgrueling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Disillusioned and frustrated by the process after the death of his mother and father in 2016 and 2023, respectively, Beverly turned to his close friends to come up with the solution that became Eazewell.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just seems like the perfect time to really turn our shared pain into purpose,\u201d Beverly said.<\/p>\n
One of Eazewell\u2019s most innovative features is its voice-activated AI agent that can gather cost quotes and call funeral homes on a user\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n
Recent advancements in AI have only recently made it possible to automate tasks and create agents that can manage these jobs in an empathetic and compassionate manner, said Viviane Ghaderi, Eazewell\u2019s tech chief and a former Amazon executive.<\/p>\n
Stephen Stokols, an Eazewell investor and CEO of Tru Skye Ventures, an early-stage sports technology and wellness venture firm, said these \u201ctransformational\u201d AI advancements helping bring the funeral industry out of the \u201cdark ages\u201d initially drew him to the project.<\/p>\n
Walker said he hopes Eazewell can offer users the tools to navigate a topic that is not taught in school or early life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know how important it is to have someone by your side to help with the details that come after a loss,\u201d Westbrook said.<\/p>\n\n
This post appeared first on NBC NEWS<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
National Basketball Association superstar Russell Westbrook is taking a shot off the court at simplifying funeral planning with artificial intelligence. The famed Denver Nuggets point guard on Wednesday announced the launch of\u00a0Eazewell, a startup that uses AI technology to streamline the process for coordinating funerals. Westbrook founded the venture with former Charlotte Hornets star Kemba <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":34775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-34774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanfinancecore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanfinancecore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanfinancecore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanfinancecore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanfinancecore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanfinancecore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanfinancecore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanfinancecore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanfinancecore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}