Sources: PitchBook; GeekWire; Crunchbase; TechCrunch; Sifted

The Signal: Death care is a small and traditional world. Roughly 22.5k funeral homes and 10k cemeteries process the ~2.8m deaths in the US each year. The industry has enjoyed decades of high markups and limited pricing transparency. But modern needs are shaking up the market as Americans move away from traditional burials. 

Startups across the globe are attracting venture and seed capital in the death-care space. From software that writes wills to human composting, this year has seen $77m+ raised across 5 firms.