The Divorshe team was brought together in Trinity’s MSc in Entrepreneurship last September, with the idea emerging from our “Business Model Innovation” module. Having bonded as a team and having delivered the module’s winning pitch, we decided to pursue the concept further.

Divorshe aims to empower women going through a marriage break-up by making the process of obtaining a divorce easier to understand and more time and cost efficient. Using smart legal tech, clients complete the paperwork at a time convenient to them, from the comfort of their own home. Client-solicitor meetings are conducted online and can be held outside traditional 9-5 office hours, minimising disruption to these busy women’s lives.

Unlike traditional law firms whose services are very costly, or low-cost DIY divorce services who lack legal expertise, we take the best of both worlds – family law solicitors and online documentation – to provide a quicker and easier to understand service.

The Team

Our team was brought together in Trinity’s MSc in Entrepreneurship in September this year and went on to win that program’s “Business Model Innovation” pitch.

Our team varies in experience and background but has a common overarching entrepreneurial passion. Avice studied humanities and communication in college in America. Fernanda studied Hospitality Management in Brazil, worked in hospitality for a few years developing new hotels, and started her own businesses shortly thereafter. Neil graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Science and Information Systems Studies from Trinity in 2009. He has spent his career to date working in a variety of product development roles, primarily in the online gambling industry.

Where We Are Now

Since September, we have created links with solicitors in Brazil and Ireland for guidance on the legal process, and have the commitment of a software engineer to explore the technology solution. We have already purchased the divorshe.com domain.

Over the coming weeks we plan to conduct further market research and begin a proof of concept for the technology platform, as well as launching our online landing page to begin to collect expressions of interest. At present, we are also working on connecting with solicitors to help advise Divorshe through Launchbox.

Our Plans for the Future

In the near future (within the year) we see Divorshe being a working product (approved by Irish Law Society), fit to serve our test market of Ireland. We will be seeking seed investments in order to get our product up and running, and serving the public.

Potential challenges that face Divorshe on this journey consist of the legal regulations, the lack of publicly available market research, and the expense incurred from recruitment.

In order to overcome these challenges, we have committed to continually seeking expert advice as we move forward with our MVP. As it is a sensitive and confidential service, which is heavily regulated by the Law Society. It is crucial that we validate each milestone with the corresponding expert to avoid any roadblocks and keep Divorshe on track.