Hi there,

Death has come for D2C companies.

Well, actually, I guess it’s the other way around.

A growing number of startups are looking to shake up — you guessed it — the death industry, specifically cremation. 

The rate of cremation in North America is exploding, and it will probably be chosen in more than 60% of deaths in the next 3 years, according to the NY Times. 

The thinking is, as millennials and Gen Zers start to make more funeral decisions, they'll expect a digital experience that's as seamless as buying, say, a new mattress or a bottle of laundry detergent.

Read that last para again to let this sink in.

Two former Nike marketers are even throwing their hats in the ring, pivoting from sneakers to custom urns.

Will this trend take off? We’ll see — but D2C certainly ain’t easy.

And now, on a livelier note, the research.

A buyer's guide to the galaxy

If you're evaluating payment processing & infrastructure solutions and overwhelmed by choice...don't panic.

We mined Yardstiq interviews with customers of vendors like Stripe, Adyen, and Checkout.com to help you make the right selection. Based on what these buyers told us about their evaluation criteria and questions, we distilled it down to 8 key questions that you need to be thinking about as you go through the buying process. 

Download our Payment Infrastructure Buyer’s Guide to find out what questions buyers are asking.

Requests for Technology

Every week, hundreds of CB Insights customers source technology vendors on our platform.

Here are a few recent RFTs we’ve received:

RFT #1 — A large insurance and wealth management group is looking for potential partners to help it gamify the experience (administrative tasks and sales monitoring) for its financial advisors.

RFT #2 — A large athletics consumer brand is looking at technologies that solve outfitting challenges.

RFT # 3 — A multinational payments company is looking to enhance the value of membership and improve travel experiences for its card members. It is specifically interested in learning more about digital tax-free shopping solutions. 

Feeling renewed

With regulators, governments, and investors all placing pressure on companies to cut emissions, what are they to do?

Equinor (market cap: $105B) has translated the pressure into a push to position itself as a leader in the global transition to clean energy. 

In fact, it is looking to reduce its in-house greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2030.

With its goal clearly spelled out, the question that remains is how it plans to reach it. 

And the answer is investment in carbon management, renewable energy, and 3 other key technologies. Find out exactly how the company is building out its renewables business in this strategy map. 

Smarter stores
 

Retailers like Walmart, Carrefour, H&M, and Sephora are deploying tools like electronic shelf labels and loss prevention tech to digitize store operations and enhance the customer experience.

Searching "pharmacies near me"

Google is moving into the pharmaceuticals space. 

Over the past 2 years, the tech giant has made more than 90 investments in the sector to complement activity from its existing pharma-focused ventures: Verily Life Sciences, Calico Life Sciences, and Isomorphic Labs.

Google also continues to invest in companies that combine research, clinical, and non-clinical data to customize drugs and healthcare to each patient’s specific needs.

Good isht. Literally.

Some early-stage companies are using sensor tech to analyze feces and urine to help you achieve better gut and urinary health.

While some of these startups provide optical sensors that clip onto toilet bowls, others are developing continuous biosensors for the bathroom or solutions to enhance microbiome precision medicine. 

The Wall Street Journal. Eric Sylvers (@EricSylvers) covers venture funding in Latin America and cites CB Insights data.

Bloomberg. Max Reyes (@MaxJReyes) explores Pie Insurance’s latest funding round and uses CB Insights research. 

Canary Media. Mike Munsell (@mikemunsell) discusses insect protein as a climate solution and mentions CB Insights research.

P.S. We have a series of reports covering trends across 40+ tech markets. Check it out here.