SlidingLife: An award-winning startup that brings people’s lives back into focus

From ensuring the wellbeing of children to combating the isolation that separation or divorce brings, SlidingLife is an award-winning platform that connects people with lawyers and psychiatrists to combat the negative effects of such a difficult time.

Before launching Sliding Life Massimiliano Arena, founder of the startup, worked as a divorce lawyer for 15 years. "Many people came to my office to ask for a new life. It was about more than solving a legal problem—they also wanted to be happier. Over time, I understood that providing a legal solution wasn’t enough, because people involved in divorce also need psychological support and daily coaching. Above all, my focus was on the children involved in parental disputes, and so I began to research digital solutions that would be able to help them", he explains.

We sat down with founder Massimiliano Arena and Chief Marketing Officer Novella Rosania to learn more about this exciting venture that won the first leg of the Global Legaltech Venture Days that took place in Italy.

What led you to start this business? How did you come up with the idea?

In my day-to-day work, I realized that the legal market is going through a period of drastic change. It’s almost impossible for lawyers to win new clients on a daily basis because our clients are now digital. They look for experts online and on social media.

On top of this, lawyers tend to spend a lot of money on advertising, wasting their budget on channels that don’t offer a return in terms of lead generation. So, we created a platform where our lawyers could find targeted clients, combining both supply and demand.

What is the problem you solve? 

Time, expense and emotional strain are the main problems that arise during a divorce. Dealing with a separation has a strong psychological impact, while also demanding a lot of time—from one to three years for each lawsuit.

The economic aspect is also crucial: a divorce costs between €1500 and €5000 per person. In addition, the related costs for housing, maintenance and unforeseen expenses can be considerable. Generally, the professional you choose depends solely on word of mouth, which is a significant risk as it can determine the outcome of your case. SlidingLife solves all these problems.

Moreover, SlidingLife guides people through every stage of the divorce process by offering all the services they need: from first realizing there’s an issue, to the daily court sessions, to finding a new partner or a new house.

What does SlidingLife want to achieve? Is it scalable? 

We want to help divorce become a driver of positive change in people’s lives in all EU countries. We're working to allow users to register their divorce in blockchain, while also providing AI software that can predict the outcome of the divorce.

Tell us about the technology behind your startup.

We are developing video-chat software that allows our clients to receive daily, 30-minute consultations by lawyers, psychologists and life coaches. On top of this, we are launching a web and mobile service and a family manager called “Parenting” to help parents manage their time, expenses and pictures of their children on social media. Finally, we are about to launch a service to allow people to draft a divorce in just a few days, and can provide a lawyer when needed.

The hardest part was convincing people that our job as lawyers is changing.

 

How many users does SlidingLife currently have?

Since 2017, the startup’s web platform has grown greatly and now serves over 4,000 subscribers on the B2C side and 170 professionals, with a growth-rate of 800 B2C subscribers and 30 professionals per month. Registration is free for users with options to purchase tailored services to meet their specific needs. For professionals, there are monthly subscription plans.

How do you define success for this business? How do you define success for yourself?

Success is the natural consequence of our daily actions. For me success is putting change into practice, creating productive synergies within my field and improving people's lives. These are my main goals.

SlidingLife is a winner of the Legaltech Venture Day in Turin, and will be invited to participate at the Global Legaltech Venture Day final in Madrid next spring, 2020. All of the seven winning startups will present their projects to a mixture of investors, business pioneers and representatives of the legal industry.

Each winner will also gain access to real networking and investment opportunities that can push their startups to the next level, and benefit from the global network comprised of the Law School’s Global League, IE, South Summit, ONTIER and other partner institutions.

What’s more, they will take part in a four-day acceleration program at IE University’s Entrepreneurship Center in order to prepare their pitch for the South Summit. As the leading entrepreneurial event in Southern Europe, South Summit brings together the most innovative entrepreneurs and world-renowned investors, alongside corporations looking to innovate and improve their global competitiveness. Each year, over 650 investors, 3000 startups and 12,500 people participate in South Summit.