Return Home End Of Life Service | Shark Tank Season 15
Micha Truman and Katey Houstonno pitched their burial and cremation alternative company during
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to Return Home after
Katey Houstonno and Micha Truman appeared on
| Shark: | Result: |
| Lori Greiner | No offer |
| Daymond John | No offer |
| Mark Cuban | No offer |
| Kevin O’Leary | No offer |
| Daniel Lubetzky | No offer |
Shark Tank Return Home Update
- Entrepreneur: Micha Truman and Katey Houstonno
- Business: Burial and cremation alternative
- Ask: $2 million for 5% equity
- Result: No deal
- Shark: None
Founders of Return Home, Micha Truman and Katey Houstonno, want to bring another option to the funeral market when it comes to handling the remains of loved ones. Their company offers composting, as an alternative to the more traditional methods used today.
Driven by concerns about what caskets and fuel used in cremation are doing to the planet, they built a company that offers what they call, a more sustainable end-of-life service.
Alternatively, the process that they call Terramation, transforms a human body into soil, within 60-90 days. Additionally, their service costs $5,500.
Lori Greiner asks Micha and Katey about their backstory. Katey shares that she has been a funeral director for many years, and it’s her passion to support the family left behind when people pass.
Micha shares that he ran The Knot, in China for 20 years. When he returned to the States he wanted to create a business that did some good in the world, which is how Return Home got started.
As far as sales, in the year prior to filming, they did $350,000. In the year of filming, they’ve already hit $350,000 by the second quarter, and they continue to grow.
Additionally, they’ve raised $5 million, however, they are losing money. Surprisingly, they’re posing a $40 million valuation, which stuns the sharks.
When Kevin O’Leary asks them to justify this, Micha tries to once more sell the company to the sharks.
At this point, Mark Cuban is turned off and goes out.
Lori pushes the entrepreneurs to prove to her why she should give them $2 million dollars in exchange for 5% of the company, and Kevin demands a breakdown of profits.
Micha says that of the $5,500 service cost, they make $3,800, and it costs them $1,200. Further, they believe that keeping prices low will make it a more reachable option.
Kevin is frustrated that the company would not charge more, especially since burials cost upwards of $8,000 for a funeral, and cremation costs just a little less than that. This, plus the valuation, causes him to go out.
Guest shark Daniel Lubetzky is next, as he too has a problem with the valuation. He is out next.
Daymond John says he isn’t passionate about the company or what they’re doing, so he follows out.
Last but not least, Lori agrees with the other sharks about the valuation. In fact, she says that the entrepreneurs need a little, ‘valuation evaluation’, and with that, she is the last shark out.
What happens with this company following
In terms of a Return Home update, it’s too soon to tell how the company is doing in terms of sales since
They were recently featured by The Seattle Times, sharing about the company since it is Washington-based.
On the Return Home website, you can learn about a couple of packages that they have, and it seems that the price has dropped a little since the episode aired. They also offer several resources for anyone considering this option.
When we get more news on a Return Home update, we will let you know!
In the meantime, check out our other company updates from Season 15 Episode 2:
For even more on companies and products, be sure to stop by our Season 15 Products Page!
Andrew Smith is the founder and owner of Shark Tank Recap. He is a longtime Shark Tank fan that has been watching it for years and has seen every episode multiple times. His friends know him as the Shark Tank expert, because he can answer any question about the show! His favorite Shark Tank products are Bertello's pizza oven and Bug Bite Thing!