Columba

What Columba does

Columba is a German software firm — operating as a brand of Rapid Data GmbH Unternehmensberatung — that provides digitalization solutions for the funeral industry, insurance companies, and corporate partners. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Berlin with a secondary office in Selmsdorf, Columba has been operating for over a decade and employs 170+ people. Its stated mission is to digitalize the administrative formalities surrounding a death — deregistrations, re-registrations, contract updates, and payouts — for both funeral directors (Bestatter) and the bereaved families they serve.

Columba's core product suite is built around two pillars. QuickForm, launched nationwide in 2016, is a 24/7 online deregistration and contract-management system that lets funeral homes and their customers complete post-death formalities (deregistrations, change-of-address, payouts) online. The Partner Portal, also launched in 2016, is a free cloud-based CRM tool that delivers verified, GDPR-compliant death notifications and binding customer data from registered funeral homes to partner companies — including insurance providers and 30+ large corporate customers such as eBay, Amazon, Zalando, IKEA, Otto, Klarna, and Sky — enabling automated contract termination and address-change processing. These products are bundled into the DigitalStart Paket, an all-in-one offering for funeral homes entering digital customer care. The platform integrates with leading German ERP funeral software providers and operates as the official cooperation partner of the Bundesverband Deutscher Bestatter e.V. and all German state funeral associations.

Commercially, Columba generates revenue through subscription-based licensing of its funeral-home software (QuickForm, DigitalStart) with annual billing and quote-based pricing sized to each operation, supplemented by partnership and integration revenue from the Partner Portal ecosystem. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales with individual consulting, complemented by a self-serve registration flow for partners and content marketing through a dedicated blog. The company is privately held, founder/management-owned (Managing Directors Christian Lang and Christian Schweigler), with no disclosed external institutional investment, no parent company, and a single-country Germany footprint.

Name

Columba

Legal name

Rapid Data GmbH Unternehmensberatung

Website

https://columba.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Columba is a German software firm that provides QuickForm and a Partner Portal CRM for funeral homes, insurance companies, and corporate partners to manage verified death notifications, deregistrations, and contract updates across Germany.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Funeral Industry Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Funeral Homes and Funeral Services (812210)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Post-Death/Unattended Death Cleanup (HSAEAHAL)

Keywords

• Funeral home software
• Death notification platform
• Deregistration management system
• Bereavement digital services
• Partner portal CRM

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Bestattersoftware Licensing: Software licensing and services for funeral homes including QuickForm system and DigitalStart package for digital customer care management.
2. Partner Portal Services: Free CRM tool for institutions, organizations and companies providing verified death notifications. Revenue generated through partnership ecosystem and integration services with insurance companies and other partners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Columba provides cloud-based software for the German funeral industry, centered on the QuickForm online deregistration/notification system and the Columba Partner Portal CRM, which delivers verified death notifications and contract-update data from registered funeral homes to insurance companies and corporate partners. Its DigitalStart Paket bundles these into an all-inclusive digital customer-care package for funeral homes of any size.

Product overview

Columba is a brand of Rapid Data GmbH Unternehmensberatung offering a suite of digital tools purpose-built for the German funeral industry. Its core products include QuickForm, an online deregistration and deregistration-assistant service launched in 2016, and the Partner Portal, a cloud-based CRM tool for processing verified death notifications and contract updates. These are bundled in the DigitalStart Paket as a turnkey offering. Columba positions itself as the digitalization partner for funeral directors, insurance companies, and public and private partners, with a stated emphasis on simplicity, reliability, and consumer protection.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• QuickForm: Digital deregistration and contract management system for funeral homes, launched in 2016. Enables online deregistration, reregistration, and payout of contracts in the event of death.
• Columba DigitalStart

Products and services

• QuickForm Online deregistration/removal system enabling funeral directors and their customers to handle standard death-related formalities — deregistrations, change-of-address updates, and payouts — simply, securely and conveniently online, around the clock.
• Columba Partner Portal Cloud-based, GDPR-compliant CRM tool that delivers verified death notifications and personal data from registered funeral homes to partner companies (insurances, retailers, utilities, e-commerce platforms) for contract processing, updates, cancellations and address changes, with password-protected access and required documentation for proof and legitimation.
• DigitalStart Paket All-in-one package combining the QuickForm deregistration assistant with additional online customer-care services at a favorable complete price, designed to enable funeral directors to enter digital customer care efficiently.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 90,000 memorial pages created and 350,000+ virtual candles lit through memorial portal ecosystem
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bundesverband Deutscher Bestatter e.V.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Columba is in nationwide cooperation with the German Federal Association of Funeral Directors and all leading ERP funeral software providers, defining the industry standard for digital death notification in Germany. The QuickForm system has been operational since 2016.
• German Funeral Associations (All German States)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial cooperation partner of funeral associations and guilds across all German states: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia.
• Leading ERP Funeral Software ProviderscoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with leading ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) funeral software providers enabling integration and interoperability across the funeral industry ecosystem in Germany.
• Insurance CompaniescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInsurance companies use the Columba Partner Portal to receive verified death notifications for policy processing and contract updates. The portal provides binding information with all required documents for proof and legitimation.
• Corporate PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVarious companies including retailers, service providers, and media companies use the Partner Portal for death notifications and contract updates. Customer logos visible include Baur, Billpay, Bonprix, Cyberport, DB, Deezer, DM, eBay, Expedia, Flaconi, HM, IKEA, Klarna, Otto, Zalando, Amazon, Sky, and 30+ more.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• PowerOrdo (by Phoron Software): PowerOrdo is a German ERP funeral software cited directly in Columba's customer case studies. It is a direct peer as a funeral-home software platform operating in the same German market, often sold alongside or integrated with Columba's QuickForm and DigitalStart offerings.
• Scrivaro: Scrivaro is a German funeral-home management software referenced alongside PowerOrdo in Columba's customer outcomes. It is a direct peer offering comparable ERP-level functionality for funeral directors, often integrated with Columba's notification and formalities layer.
• Memoriam Software: Memoriam is a German provider of funeral and cemetery management software targeting Bestatter in the same vertical as Columba. It is a direct peer competing for the same funeral-home software wallet with overlapping administrative and formalities-management features.
• Passman (Friedmann & Passmann): Passman is a long-established German vendor of funeral home and cemetery software. It is a direct peer for funeral-home administrative software in Germany, competing with Columba for funeral-director customers.
• Dispo (Bestatter-Software): Dispo is a German funeral-home software and management solution focused on administrative workflows for Bestatter. It is a direct peer operating in the same vertical SaaS category as Columba in Germany.

Regional players

• FuneralOne: FuneralOne is a US-based death-care marketing, website, and software platform serving funeral homes. It is a regional peer providing comparable funeral-home software and online services in a different geography, useful as a cross-market comparable for digital funeral-home offerings.
• Parting Pro: Parting Pro is a US funeral technology and services platform offering funeral homes technology and procurement tools. It is a regional peer operating in the same death-care software category in North America.
• Tribu (Tributi): Tribu is a European (Iberian/Italian) end-of-life and digital legacy platform. It is a regional peer that sits thematically close to Columba's digital formalities and notification business, with comparable enterprise integrations to insurance and corporate customers in adjacent European geographies.

Emerging players

• Cake (formerly Everest): Cake is a US end-of-life planning and technology company that helps consumers and funeral homes with online planning tools. It is an emerging player adjacent to Columba's customer base, addressing consumer-facing end-of-life workflows rather than the B2B formalities layer Columba serves.
• Verity (Tribute Technology): Verity is a UK-based bereavement and death-notification technology platform working with corporates, government, and insurers. It is an emerging player with thematic overlap to Columba's Partner Portal — both act as pipes for verified death notifications to corporates and institutions.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/columba-online-identity-management-gmbh
• Facebookfacebook.com/columbaoim

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

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 Columba