What Recompose does

Recompose is a Seattle-based Public Benefit Corporation that operates the first commercially licensed human composting (natural organic reduction) service in the United States. Founded in 2017 by Katrina Spade, the company converts human remains into soil using a controlled thermophilic biological process housed in proprietary vessels called Recompose Greenhouses, and serves individual families on a per-service basis at a $7,000 fee. The company has processed 350+ people into soil as of January 2024 and reported serving 500+ families by 2025, operating from facilities in Seattle and Kent, Washington.

The company's core technology is the patent-pending Recompose Greenhouse vessel system, which manages the environmental conditions required for safe and consistent natural organic reduction. Recompose is the originator of the U.S. human composting movement, having spearheaded the 2019 legalization in Washington State — the first such authorization in the world — and operates in a category that has since expanded to 14+ legalized U.S. states. The company complements its primary service with the Precompose prepaid membership program (held in annuity contracts with insurance partners), the Imminent Pathway offering for actively dying customers, and both virtual and in-person Ceremonies.

Recompose's business model is a hybrid of direct service revenue ($7,000 per transformation) and prepaid subscription liquidity provided by Precompose members. The company monetizes a single high-consideration end-of-life transaction per family, with ancillary revenue from Ceremonies and, as a stated growth lever, licensing of its vessel and process technology to operators in newly legalized jurisdictions. The company has raised approximately $22.4M across four funding rounds between 2018 and 2023, employs 11-50 people, and is pursuing a category-creation strategy that combines direct facility operations with ecosystem partnerships, most recently including a partnership with Olympia Ecosystems for soil return.

Name

Recompose

Legal name

Recompose PBC

Website

https://recompose.life

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Recompose is a Seattle-based Public Benefit Corporation offering human composting (natural organic reduction) services for $7,000 per family. Operating from Washington State facilities, it serves individuals and families across 14+ legalized U.S. states via proprietary vessel technology and prepaid subscription plans.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Green Funeral Services / Human Composting

NAICS

Materials Recovery Facilities (562920), Materials Recovery Facilities (56292), Remediation Services (562910), Remediation Services (56291)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953)

akta.pro primary industry

Organics & Composting Programs (Food Waste, Green Waste) (BPABALAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Residential Curbside Organics Programs (Municipal/Franchise) (BPALAEAF)

Keywords

• Human composting services
• Natural organic reduction
• Green funeral home
• Prepaid funeral plans
• Ecological death care

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Human composting service fee: One-time transactional fee of $7,000 charged per body for the full soil transformation service. Customers pay via check or card before transformation begins; pricing updated periodically in the General Price List. Comparable to median cremation cost ($6,280) and below median burial cost ($8,300).
2. Precompose prepaid funeral plan: Subscription-style prepayment program letting individuals lock in today's price for future service. Starts at $100/month; 1,300+ members as of March 2023. Funds held in annuity contracts with insurance partners. Plans can be marked revocable or irrevocable (Medicaid planning).
3. Technology licensing: License the proprietary patent-pending natural organic reduction (vessel-based human composting) system to industry partners globally as a stated expansion strategy alongside building/operating Recompose-owned facilities.
4. Specialty soil containers (memorial products): Sale of biodegradable specialty containers (~5 cups of soil) with letterpress name card, intended for sharing with friends/family and small memorial plantings; shipping of standard soil bags available to most U.S. locations.
5. Community Fund contributions: Non-tax-deductible donations from clients, investors, and the broader community (including 100% of profits from the Recompose Store) used to subsidize Recompose services for those who cannot afford full price. Not core revenue but a strategic accessibility lever.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Recompose is a full-service green funeral home that performs human composting (natural organic reduction) — converting human remains into approximately one cubic yard of nutrient-rich soil over 8–12 weeks inside patent-pending stainless-steel vessels using wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. Service is delivered at its Seattle and Kent, WA facilities to families in all 50 U.S. states for a one-time fee of $7,000, with optional Precompose prepayment, ceremonies, soil return/shipping, and conservation-land donation through the Recompose Land Program.

Product overview

Recompose offers a unified suite of green-funeral / human-composting services rather than a modular software platform. At the core is its patented Recompose Human Composting Service (Natural Organic Reduction) — the transformation of human remains into roughly one cubic yard of nutrient-rich soil over 8–12 weeks in patented steel vessels — supported by the Precompose prepaid plan, Immediate Need, Imminent Pathway, and Ceremony Offerings (including the Laying-In Ceremony) service modules, plus post-process soil handling (pickup, shipping, donation via the Recompose Land Program), transportation coordination, an Affiliate Funeral Homes partner network, the subsidizing Recompose Community Fund, free educational In-Person and Virtual Tours, the merchandise Recompose Store (whose profits fund the Community Fund), and a Legislative Advocacy Program that has helped legalize human composting in over a dozen U.S. states.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Precompose: Recompose's prepaid funeral plan that lets individuals prearrange future human composting services, starting at $100 per month.

Products and services

• Recompose Human Composting Service (Natural Organic Reduction) Core service: the world's first human composting service, transforming human remains into approximately one cubic yard of nutrient-rich soil over 8–12 weeks inside patent-pending Recompose vessels using wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. Uses 87% less energy than cremation or burial and saves one metric ton of carbon per person. Priced at $7,000 per body.
• Precompose Prepaid Funeral Plan Prepaid subscription funeral plan that lets individuals lock in today's price for future Recompose human composting services. Plans start at $100/month, are funded through monthly payments or via an annuity contract/insurance policy, and can be designated irrevocable for Medicaid planning. 1,300+ members as of March 2023.
• Imminent Pathway
• Immediate Need Service Urgent-response funeral service for when a death has occurred or is expected imminently, including 24/7 phone support at (206) 800-8733, body transport coordination, death certificate filing, and arrangement meetings within 24–48 hours.
• Ceremony Offerings
• Recompose Land Program Program allowing clients to donate any amount of soil to accredited nonprofit conservation organizations (e.g., Olympia Ecosystems for the Deschutes River Preserve) to revitalize protected lands. Over half of clients donate soil to land conservation partners.
• Recompose Community Fund Subsidy program that reduces or covers the cost of Recompose services for clients who cannot afford full price, funded by contributions from clients, investors, and 100% of profits from the Recompose Store. Applications accepted from individuals, family members, social workers, or medical providers.
• Recompose Soil Options (Pickup, Shipping, Specialty Containers)
• Recompose Transportation Coordination
• Recompose In-Person and Virtual Tours Free 60-minute community tours (30-minute walk-through plus 30-minute Q&A) of the Seattle facility, with both in-person options (capped at 25 attendees) and hour-long Zoom-hosted virtual tours covering the process, history, values, and vessel array. Averages ~70 in-person visitors per month.
• Recompose Technology Licensing License of Recompose's patent-pending natural organic reduction (vessel-based human composting) system to industry partners globally as a stated expansion strategy alongside Recompose-owned facilities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 87% less energy used vs cremation or burial
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core — flagship land partner for the recompose land program, important — sole platform for community round, important — research validation partner, operational vendor — crm and customer data platform, operational vendor — analytics and advertising and critical legislative champion — original nor bill sponsor.

• Olympia Ecosystems (OlyEcosystems)core — flagship land partner for the recompose land programStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Announced January 2024 as Recompose's new land conservation partner. Olympia Ecosystems is a nonprofit conservation organization founded in 2014 that has conserved over 400 acres within the Olympia and Lower Deschutes River region. Soil donated by Recompose clients is delivered to support restoration and reforestation along the Deschutes River Preserve (Douglas-fir forests, forested floodplains, upland prairie grasslands, and wetland habitats; elk, beaver, juvenile salmonids, amphibians, river otters, coyotes, black-tailed deer, and bird species). The partnership advances Recompose's mission to connect humanity to the natural world through regenerative land stewardship.
• Wefunderimportant — sole platform for community roundGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2023Wefunder hosts Recompose's Regulation Crowdfunding community round, allowing non-accredited investors to participate at a $1,000 minimum toward a $5M raise. Like Recompose, Wefunder is a public benefit corporation. Community-round funding supports development, operations, and expansion of Recompose including new green funeral homes and technology licensing.
• Washington State Universityimportant — research validation partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration conducted via a 2018 pilot that proved the safety of the natural organic reduction process and supported engineering of Recompose's patent-pending vessel system. Findings supported the 2019 Washington State legalization.
• Zoho (Zoho CRM)operational vendor — crm and customer data platformTechnology or IntegrationZoho CRM is Recompose's stated Customer Relationship Management system for storing customer information securely, with access limited to authorized personnel. Zoho is also referenced as a cookie/analytics provider on the website.
• Microsoft (Clarity + Advertising)operational vendor — analytics and advertisingTechnology or IntegrationMicrosoft Clarity captures user behavior via heatmaps, session replay, and behavioral metrics to improve products/services and marketing. Microsoft Advertising supports interest-based advertising.
• Senator Jamie Pedersen (Washington State)critical legislative champion — original nor bill sponsorOthersPrimary sponsor of the original 2019 Washington State bill that made Recompose the world's first legal human composting jurisdiction. Recompose first approached his office in 2018; he subsequently sponsored the bill and has been a recurring champion of subsequent NOR legislation.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCrSPN9TZY8I41ddk1wYgjOQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/recomposelife
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/recompose
• Instagraminstagram.com/recomposelife
• Xx.com/recomposelife

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Recompose