Seattle-based Recompose, a leader in ecological death care and the first human composting company in the world, leveraged a Purpose Round in 2023 as a complement to venture capital and a strategy to mobilize their community and democratize investment opportunities to accredited and non-accredited investors aligned with the company’s values.
The company is no stranger to purpos, as they works to ensure respectful, empathetic service from the time of death through the body’s transformation into soil — an alternative to conventional burial and cremation that requires 1/8 the energy and prevents one metric ton of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere per person 1.
The decision to mobilize community around the company’s expansion was intentional strategy in Recompose.
“Recompose and the human composting movement exist thanks to enthusiasm and commitment of our broad community,” said founder and CEO Katrina Spade. “We have always planned to offer the opportunity to invest in our company at a low minimum, and we’re thrilled that the moment has arrived.” 2
The Purpose Round allowed Recompose to raise funds from a broader base of smaller investors aligned with the company's mission and values, including a lower minimum investment compared to their previous rounds open to accredited investors only. As importantly, it allowed Recompose to engage its community directly in the expansion of its human composting services and further support for greener death care practices.
It worked, with more than $2M raised from 860+ investors backing in Recompose’s vision for a regenerative future of death care. 3
“I have been following your company from the beginning! If this investment in some small way propels this movement, it means that my grandkids will experience a profoundly connected world in the future,” one community investor shared.