StartHealth and Solace Care: grief support
Tiedote
Helsinki / Stockholm, October 2026 – Occupational health provider StartHealth and Nordic bereavement support service Solace Care are partnering in Finland. Employees at companies using StartHealth’s Support package will receive help from Solace Care after losing someone close: a clear checklist of practical tasks after a death and guidance through them.
Occupational health that makes room for grief
StartHealth provides statutory occupational healthcare for companies with 1–200 employees, particularly startups and professional-services teams. It offers in-person services in Helsinki and remote services across Finland. Doctors Valtteri Järvenpää and Jussi Kurikka founded StartHealth.
In a small company, one person’s loss affects the whole team. In Finland, 96 percent of companies have fewer than ten employees, so cover and established HR processes can be limited. In 2025, 59,209 people died in Finland. Each death affects relatives, many of whom are working.
“In a startup, every person is critical, and one person’s loss affects the whole team. Occupational healthcare should support people’s ability to work when life becomes difficult, too. With Solace Care, we can also help our clients in areas that occupational healthcare has not previously reached.”, says Valtteri Järvenpää, StartHealth co-founder and doctor.
What does the partnership mean for employees?
After a death, families may need to arrange a funeral, prepare an estate inventory, notify authorities and banks, and close accounts and contracts. Solace Care brings practical support into one service:
a personal checklist of next steps
guidance and tools for closing accounts and contracts
AI-supported help with practical tasks and questions
a shared checklist so relatives can divide the work
secure sign-in using the methods available in the service
Occupational healthcare supports wellbeing and the ability to work, while Solace Care helps with practical tasks. The aim is to reduce the administrative burden during grief. Managers can also use guides on supporting a grieving employee (in Finnish), grief in a small team and returning to work after a death (in Finnish).
“After the death of someone close, a person has to handle dozens of practical tasks while grieving. We want help to be available where employees already seek support: through their occupational healthcare.”, says Valtteri Korkiakoski, CEO and co-founder of Solace Care.
Why include grief support in occupational health?
Grief affects working life. In Empathy’s 2025 survey, 94 percent of the grieving employees surveyed reported difficulty concentrating and 79 percent had considered leaving their job. These figures describe the study participants, not all Finnish employees. In the UK, a Sue Ryder report estimated the economic cost of grief at around £22.9 billion a year.
Occupational healthcare already has a role in supporting mental health and work-ability management. Bereavement support adds practical help beyond that clinical role. Read more about what occupational healthcare includes (in Finnish).
About StartHealth
StartHealth is a doctor-founded occupational health provider offering digital services and predictable pricing for small and medium-sized companies. Read more about occupational healthcare for startups and small-business occupational healthcare (in Finnish).
About Solace Care
Solace Care is a Stockholm-based service helping people plan ahead and manage practical tasks after a death. Solace Care works with insurers, employers and brokers in Sweden, Finland and Norway and is ISO 27001 certified. In August 2026, the company raised €2.1 million in pre-seed funding. For employers: Solace Care for employers.
Further information: Valtteri Korkiakoski, CEO, Solace Care, valtteri@solace.care