Aotearoa-founded startup receives backing to expand development of its digital grief platform
Grief support startup Griefity has been awarded a Callaghan Innovation “New to R&D” grant, recognising the company’s development of a digital health tech solution for grief support.
The grant is designed to support emerging businesses undertaking structured research and development for the first time, strengthening Aotearoa’s tech sector by investing in promising software and product innovation.
For Griefity, this funding affirms its position as a software company using technology to address a widespread but often overlooked need.
“There are plenty of apps offering general wellbeing content, but grief needs a different approach,” says founder Corinne Davies. “We’ve built a platform that doesn’t just provide support, but adapts intelligently to different types of loss, different stages of grief, and different needs over time. This grant helps us take that technical vision even further. We are deeply grateful for this support.”
Founded and built in New Zealand, Griefity offers modular grief support pathways, practical estate tools, and peer connection through a mobile-first platform. It’s currently used by over 20,000 people in 17 countries, with growing B2B demand from funeral homes, workplace wellbeing teams, and educational institutions.
The Callaghan Innovation grant will accelerate Griefity’s work on key R&D initiatives, allowing the team to invest more deeply in product innovation, and test new approaches that could make a real difference in how people process and respond to grief.
“This isn’t just about delivering content. We are designing a system that can meet people at one of the hardest points in their lives and provide meaningful, timely, responsive help,” Davies says. “We’re building tech in a space that has long been left behind.”
This grant follows a string of recent recognition for the startup, including being named a finalist in the 2025 NZ Hi-Tech Awards for Most Innovative Software Solution, placing Griefity alongside some of the most ambitious and impactful software ventures in the country.
“There’s been an incredible amount of focus on mental health innovation in recent years, but grief is often overlooked,” Davies says. “Our goal is to create technology that’s not just compassionate but also smart, responsive, and capable of making a real difference at scale.”
