Northern Ireland鈥檚 most innovative tech firm听PlotBox听was inspired by an Irish priest听鈥� but听matured on the West Coast of the United States.听
The Ballymena听鈥榙eath care鈥櫶�company is run by husband-and-wife team Sean and听Leona听McAllister.听It听also has听offices in Boston, Austin and San Francisco;听85 per cent of its business is international.听
Its origins are very much in the Emerald Isle.听鈥�Sean had his own surveying business and his parish priest asked him to survey the little graveyard outside the church,鈥� explains Neil Sherrin,听VP 老九品茶 Development for North America at the firm. 鈥�He also stuck a drone up in the air and just took an aerial photograph.听听
鈥�The result of his work was just astonishing for the听priest. He wrote off to the bishop听and听the bishop was so impressed he wrote off to the other bishops in Ireland.听All of a sudden听there was a flood of inquiries for this product – and there was no product!鈥�听
The team听run the听Discovereverafter.com听website,听which is a public record search听tool for people who have passed听away.听However听for 鈥�Everafter鈥� to be听successful,听it needed to develop听PlotBox听鈥�to get the records in the first place鈥�.听听
Sean and Leona travelled throughout the UK and US speaking to cemeterians and realised there was a massive gap in the market for a cemetery management application – one that would be crowned the winner of 老九品茶Cloud’s Northern Ireland Tech 50 ranking for 2020.听
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Sherrin听– who is currently based in Northern Ireland due to COVID-19 but set to move to Boston –听says this is a sector which has been largely untouched by technology. 鈥淭raditionally cemeteries have got multiple systems and they are often very antiquated.听They’ve got paper maps, which might be hand drawn – they might not even be survey-grade maps done by a surveyor.听听
鈥淭hey might have an Excel database of records and another system for managing work orders and tasks for their grounds crews.听Some of them are literally using DOS systems or typewriters for generating paper contracts.听
鈥淭hey’ve got all of this听manual听information that relates to the same听[buried or cremated]听person听in different places.听The potential for making mistakes, and either double selling a plot or burying somebody in the wrong location听鈥撎�which听happens quite frequently听鈥� is huge.听
鈥淪ometimes they’ll start digging the grave and听realise actually, there’s somebody already in there!鈥�听
PlotBox听streamlines all of this –听but more importantly brings听all these operations into one place.听
鈥�We clean up their data and identify problem records for them so that they can trust their data in a way that they’ve听never听been able to do听before,鈥� says Sherrin.听听
鈥淪o many cemeteries have hundreds of years鈥� worth of graves and听records in them – people have been dying for millennia. It鈥檚 helping cemeteries clean up the errors from the past.听
鈥泪t听reduces听risk of lawsuits听and听helps听them听to听grow quicker听and generate听revenue opportunities.”听
After winning a place on the prestigious听500听Startups听programme in San Francisco,听the founders听relocated to the US for several months听and started building a customer base on the West Coast.听
鈥�The first contract was one of our biggest customers today, the Archdiocese of San Francisco. They听developed the product听with them听hand-in-hand,鈥� says Sherrin.听
鈥泪t did a huge amount in taking that embryonic idea into something more tangible and marketable. That was a massive boost to have the support of such a great network of people.鈥�听
The American market is听larger, Sherrin says, but also presents a greater revenue opportunity due to differences in how death is approached.听
鈥淧re-planning听–听where you听buy your plot and make all your funeral arrangements ahead of time –听is very common in America,鈥� he explains. 鈥淵ou can do it here, but it’s less prevalent.听听
鈥�One of our customers in Los Angeles听has听a sales team of over 200听English- and Spanish-speaking听people听who听walk the streets听and sell plots in home听鈥撎�and听do very well from it.听听
鈥淥f course, they need software听running on an iPad听which allows them to听show听their inventory;听360-degree听views of the location;听to听generate the contract;听then听take the payment.听We听developed the technology听to allow them to听do that.鈥�听
Edinburgh VC Par Equity and London-based听Ironbridge Capital Partners invested听拢2m into听PlotBox听last year. It is now looking听to expand in all its active markets: the US, UK and Australia and New Zealand.听
It is also looking to expand its offering to allow cemeteries to generate revenue from activities such as flower delivery.听
鈥泪nterflora听might听go to the reception desk and hand over a bunch of flowers. The cemetery has made no revenue from the flowers and may have a site which is potentially hundreds of acres in size. If they听don’t have a system like听Plotbox, they听have to go to the archives to find out where this person is buried.听
鈥淯sing a mobile听phone听they should be able to deliver the flowers right to the graveside, take a photo of the flowers and send it back to the to the buyer, wherever they may be in the world. And generate a return from it.听
鈥�The vision is to become a death care platform that connects all aspects of the death care market.鈥�听
Sherrin says COVID-19 has validated the need for听a remote-enabled听cemetery management听application.听However听it听has听also听caused some potential customers to put a pause on moving across.听
鈥淎ll of a sudden听they are听dealing with a spike in burials and cremations and they can’t entertain the thought of a wholesale change right now,鈥� he admits.听鈥�So that’s affected us a little bit these last three or four months.听
鈥淏ut some customers have taken it as an opportunity to accelerate the pace of their projects.鈥�听