The startup that made headlines helping terminally ill clients create digital replicas of themselves just landed $10.3 million and a complete pivot. Robert LoCascio's Eternos is now Uare.ai, shifting from death-focused legacy preservation to helping professionals create AI versions of themselves for work and monetization.
Robert LoCascio thought he was building the ultimate legacy business. After stepping down as CEO of LivePerson in 2023 following nearly three decades at the helm of the web chat pioneer, he launched Eternos in 2024 with a mission that seemed almost science fiction: helping people create digital replicas of themselves before they die.
The startup gained massive media attention when terminally ill client Michael Bommer revealed how he spent 25 hours with Eternos creating a digital version of himself, complete with his voice, memories, and worldview. It was the kind of story that captured imaginations and headlines, but it also revealed something unexpected about the market.
"Most of the people considering using Eternos weren't preparing for death," LoCascio discovered. Instead, they were intrigued by the professional possibilities of having an AI version of themselves.
That insight just triggered a complete pivot and a $10.3 million funding round. Eternos announced Tuesday it's rebranding as Uare.ai and shifting focus from immortality to productivity scaling for creators and professionals.
"I started to realize that the big models, they're taking our datasets, and they're getting smarter because of us," LoCascio told TechCrunch. "We don't have to take that path. You own the model, and you can share it and monetize it."
The technology behind Uare.ai centers on what the company calls the Human Life Model (HLM) - a framework that uses exclusively individual data rather than pulling from general large language models. The system captures personal values, life stories, and decision-making patterns through extensive interviews about childhood, career crossroads, and professional expertise.
"The first part is getting a human life story. Where'd you come from? Tell me a story about your childhood. What's a crossroad in your life when you were younger?" LoCascio explained. The platform then blends these personal narratives with professional facts to create what the company believes are more authentic AI replicas.
Unlike Character.ai and other chatbots that fill knowledge gaps with general AI training data, Uare.ai's models stick strictly to what they know. "Our AIs will say, I don't know if they can't answer the question," LoCascio said.
