When Donnell Beverly Jr. decided to launch end-of-life planning startup Eazewell after the loss of both of his parents, he knew exactly who to call to help launch the business: longtime friend, and nine-time NBA All Star, Russell Westbrook.
“The main thesis with Russ across every business that he touches is how do we impact people?” Beverly Jr. [pictured above] told TechCrunch. “He’s been very vocal about that throughout his career. I always say we really took personal pain and then created a platform to really help people.”
Westbrook was in. Former four-time NBA All Star Kemba Walker also joined and the trio launched Eazewell.
Eazewell is an AI-driven platform that helps families navigate and automate the administrative aspects of end-of-life and funeral planning. The startup’s AI agent gives people a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week resource and helps users with everything from finding and booking a funeral home to cancelling credit card accounts for a deceased person.
The company partners with different service providers, like hospice care, funeral homes, and various insurance companies, which allows the platform to be free to use with the option of paying for more premium features.
“I had an opportunity to be able to be close with his family and go through the process with [Beverly Jr.],” Westbrook told TechCrunch. “He’s done an amazing job of idealizing this idea and bringing it to life. I’m excited to kind of be partner with him alongside him on this.”
Beverly Jr. said he got the idea for Eazewell after losing both of his parents in a short period of time. Navigating what came after their deaths made him realize how large of a burden the end-of-life process can be — and how fragmented the market of these services is.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
He added that seeing the recent advancements in AI made him realize the technology could be used to help reduce the number of administrative tasks grieving families need to tackle following a death.
“We’ve seen how AI has impacted our lives while we’re here, but you know now we’re entering a space where it’s impacting our lives after death,” Beverly Jr. said.
Eazewell was founded in 2024. The company said it has been able to help more than 100,000 families since its launched its platform earlier this year.
Now, Eazewell is rolling out a new enterprise platform for hospice …