Romanian ad agency founder and team of MIT entrepreneurs create platform which promises digital immortality

An online platform created by a Romanian allows users to be present online even after their death. The platform, called Eterni.me, was recently launched by Marius Ursache, co-founder of the Grapefruit agency, together with a team of fellow entrepreneurs from Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT's entrepreneurship program. The website is based on algorithms of artificial intelligence which will generate an ater – ego or an avatar based on data and digital information generated during life – photos, emails, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn posts,” according to a statement. With a promise to make users 'immortal', the platform allows them to adjust their avatar during their lifetime. So far, 3,000 users have been accepted on the platform, which is now in the testing phase. A Beta version will be available in 2015, but it will be invite only, and will first target the US market. The team behind this project will focus on the preliminary version to show its feasibility, so as to get financing for development. “Eterni.me collects almost everything that you create during your lifetime, and processes this huge amount of information using complex Artificial Intelligence algorithms. Then it generates a virtual YOU, an avatar that emulates your personality and can interact with, and offer information and advice to your family and friends after you pass away. It's like a Skype chat from the past,” according to its website. Romanian Marius Ursache, 37, is the chief executive officer of the project, and the team is completed by seven other managers. Ursache, who studied to become a doctor, is the founder of Romanian advertising agency Grapefruit, which he created in 1999, when he was 22. He recently graduated the Entrepreneurship Development Program at MIT Sloan in the US. editor@romania-insider.com