Eterneva
Setting the Scene
The death care industry has seen little innovation for decades, relying on impersonal methods of memorialization.
Traditional burials are losing favor as there is a lack of optionality beyond caskets, graves, and urns.
As a result, there’s an increasing demand for more meaningful ways to honor loved ones.
This week’s company offers a unique and modern approach to memorialization.
In a Sentence
Eterneva enables customers to celebrate the lives of loved ones who have passed away by transforming a small portion of their ashes or hair into diamonds.
Celebrate: Eterneva helps customers through their grief by involving them in a technology-enabled journey, from placing ashes in a special capsule to providing photo and video updates of the diamond’s progress.
Transform: The company extracts carbon from the ashes to create custom, high-quality diamonds, providing a physical and lasting memento.
Bulleted Version:
- Think of Eterneva as the modern day casket, offering an alternative or addition to the traditional memorial by transforming ashes or hair into diamonds, creating a unique, lasting tribute.
The Basics
- Headquarters: Austin, Texas
- Employee Count: 30
- Investors:
Mark Cuban, Founder Collective, Goodwater Capital, Castle Island Ventures, 1528 Investments, Next Coast Ventures, SoGal Ventures, Aaron Jones, Springdale Ventures, and many more.
- Funding amount: $17.9M after most recent Series A extension round
- Business model: Direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales and channel partnerships
- Early traction: Projecting $11M in revenue this year, exclusive partnership with SCI, distribution with 2M followers on TikTok and over 300M views across platforms.
Due Dilligence
WHAT WE LIKE
Market Opportunity: The deathcare industry is a $20B market that’s seen little innovation for decades.
Trends: With 60% of Americans choosing cremation, expected to rise to 80% by 2040, there’s an increasing demand for personalized memorial options like Eterneva’s diamonds.
Additionally, Baylor University study found that 82% of respondents grieved better with Eterneva’s process.
Channel Partnerships: Eterneva’s exclusive partnership with Service Corporation International (SCI), the largest player in the funeral industry, significantly expands its market reach and allows them to effectively upsell their products as modern alternatives to traditional caskets.
POTENTIAL RISKS
Cultural Acceptance: Cultures have various attitudes towards death and memorialization, so Eterneva must navigate these differences and tailor their marketing strategies to ensure appeal across diverse demographics.
Ethical Concerns: Handling human and pet ashes involves ethical considerations that need to be addressed sensitively.
Non-Recurring: While Eterneva has great distribution, repeat purchasers, strong referrals, and distribution, their revenue model operates on a non-recurring basis constantly putting pressure on acquiring new customers.
Founder Profiles
Adelle Archer, Co-CEO: Previously lead product marketing efforts at TrendKite and Bigcommerce.
Garrett Ozar, CO-CEO: Previously led sales at TrendKite and Bigcommerce.
Why Eterneva
By turning ashes into diamonds using innovative technology, Eterneva is set to be the gem of the death care industry as it revolutionizes traditional burials.