Justin Crowe appeared on “Shark Tank” to pitch his Santa Fe startup, Parting Stone, for $400,000 and 5%.
Crowe revealed the heartbreak of receiving a bag of ashes after a loved one’s cremation on ABC’s Shark Tank on Friday, April 7. Parting Stone turns human and animal ashes into smooth, polished stones.
Each shark received a box with a stone from his grandfather’s bones.
The sharks were intrigued until Crowe mentioned corporate income and losses. Parting Stone earned $350,000 in 2020, $850,000 in 2021, and $1.2 million in 2022, but lost $800,000.
“I can’t get past the losses,” shark Barbara Corcoran remarked.
Shark Gwyneth Paltrow and Mark Cuban declined.
Crowe convinced them automation might address losses. “Two years to break even.”
Parting Stone has $3.5 million from the Arrowhead Center at New Mexico State University and 55 angel investors.
“That’s a lot of investors,” shark Lori Greiner stated.
Greiner and fellow shark Kevin O’Leary offered Crowe $400,000 for 20% stock.
“I can’t do 20%,” Crowe remarked. “7% is doable.”
“What decade would we get our money back?” Greiner stated.
Greiner, O’Leary, and Crowe accepted 10% stock and royalties. Crowe would pay the sharks $20 each consumer product and $12.50 per funeral package until the $400,000 is recouped.
Greiner remarked after the show, “It’s the nicest thing I’ve seen to deal with ashes.
“There are two areas that I invest in and have for decades—weddings and death,” O’Leary tweeted. They’re recession-proof!”
Crowe said Parting Stone has teamed with 600 of the 20,000 U.S. funeral facilities.
“I’m really happy with how the deal went,” Crowe remarked at Parting Stone’s Shark Tank screening after the program aired. “Their partnership is worth the 10% equity.”
Crowe appeared on Shark Tank for national exposure and $400,000, too.
Crowe told The New Mexican, “We’re expecting 4 million TV viewers. “More people should know that cremation doesn’t require ashes.”
He told the watch-party of over 100 individuals that he thinks the Parting Stone option would convince the public that cremated remains are better handled.
“We want to get as many people to that light bulb moment in eight minutes as we can,” he told the group.