Lauren Kolodny, a accomplice at Acrew Capital, has all the time championed know-how’s energy to democratize entry to monetary companies for on a regular basis folks.
When the fledgling neobank Chime struggled to persuade traders in 2016 that it might construct a big enterprise serving the working class, Kolodny was the one VC out of a 100 Chime pitched who agreed to again the corporate, stepping in with a $9 million Collection A extension when it was practically out of cash.
That guess paid off huge time. Final month, Chime went public at a $14.5 billion valuation.
Kolodny, who appeared on the Forbes Midas listing three years in a row, remains to be enthusiastic about investing in tech options that assist shoppers maximize their sources.
She not too long ago led a $20 million Collection A funding in Alix, a startup that leverages AI to automate the property settlement course of.
Alix’s founder, Alexandra Mysoor, realized the burden of executing a household property after she provided to assist her greatest pal settle her late mom’s affairs. Mysoor instructed Trendster that it took her 900 hours and 18 months to finish duties reminiscent of calling the financial institution to switch belongings, finding all of the 401Ks, cancelling accounts, and distributing belongings amongst relations.
“I used to be shocked that this course of was so arduous,” Mysoor stated. “It’s paper-driven. It’s archaic. You’re googling to-do lists that aren’t useful. You’re calling attorneys who would possibly do a sliver of the work, they usually price hundreds and hundreds of {dollars}.”
Techcrunch occasion
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
That have gave Mysoor the concept that a few of the most labor-intensive elements of belief administration, together with scanning and extracting information from paperwork, pre-populating complicated varieties, and communications with banks, can now be dealt with by AI brokers.
When Kolodny met Mysoor and discovered about the issue Alix was addressing, the difficulty resonated so deeply with the Midas Listing investor that she couldn’t get it out of her thoughts.
Kolodny realized that regardless that economists are estimating that trillions of {dollars} will switch to millennial and Gen Z generations over the following 20 years, the paperwork surrounding property settlement largely stays a burden on these grieving the lack of their mother and father.
Whereas some startups like Empathy present help with closing accounts as a part of their bereavement help, Kolodny found that no corporations provided complete, start-to-finish property settlement companies.
“How is it potential that there’s this messy drawback that entails a lot venture administration that there aren’t even significant companies round?” Kolodny instructed Trendster. “It was this actual aha second for me. That is precisely the form of drawback that AI needs to be fixing.”
Kolodny stated that she believes Alix is among the many first of many startups powered by AI that may democratize monetary companies and administrative processes, which had been traditionally accessible solely to the ultra-wealthy.
Alix’s price construction is 1% of an property’s worth. Nevertheless, for inheritances below $1 million, prospects can anticipate to pay between $9,000 and $12,000, with the precise price decided by the complexity of the property.
