Solace Cremation was founded in 2019 by former Nike executive creative directors Keith Crawford and David Odusanya. Their Portland startup used online paperwork, phone support, licensed funeral professionals and partner crematories to offer a simpler form of direct cremation. Solace later sold or transitioned into the Tulip Cremation brand; its website now directs customers to Tulip for current operations.
The personal experiences behind Solace
Crawford said arranging services after his father died in 2013 exposed confusing paperwork, difficult-to-compare prices and what he perceived as sales pressure. Odusanya described a similar family experience in England. Those accounts shaped Solace’s promise of fewer surprises and less administrative friction.
Claims that funeral homes are broadly “stuck in the past” or routinely prioritize upselling came from the founders’ critique, not an independently verified description of every funeral business. The more specific problem Solace targeted was a fragmented, emotionally difficult buying process in which families often had to make decisions in person and under time pressure.
Solace’s launch announcement is available from the company at Solace, while GeekWire’s January 15, 2020 report documented the early business.
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Why Nike experience mattered—and what it did not mean
Crawford and Odusanya had nearly four decades of combined experience on global Nike initiatives before leaving to create a design agency and explore new ventures. That background gave them experience in brand building, consumer research, service design and reducing friction in emotionally charged customer journeys.
It did not make them funeral directors. Solace added death-care expertise, including funeral director Malisa Riceci and COO Jeremy Frank. Licensed professionals and local operating partners remained essential because cremation involves regulated transfers, permits, identification procedures and physical facilities.
How the digital-first service worked
Solace offered direct cremation, not a new cremation technology and not a full traditional funeral. Direct cremation generally means the body is cremated without a formal viewing or funeral ceremony beforehand. The company’s digital layer simplified intake; the regulated work still happened offline.
- Start online or by phone. A family could begin arrangements remotely rather than being required to visit a funeral home. GeekWire reported that the initial online process could take as little as five minutes; that referred to intake, not completion of the cremation.
- Confirm eligibility and logistics. Staff gathered location, authorization and transportation information and identified any medical-examiner or legal requirements.
- Complete digital paperwork. Authorizations and other forms could be handled electronically with help from the care team.
- Coordinate transfer. Licensed personnel and local partners arranged transportation from an eligible facility or residence.
- Perform the cremation. A licensed partner crematory handled the physical cremation and required compliance steps.
- Return the remains. Families received the cremated remains locally or, where offered, by tracked shipment.
- Provide continuing support. Solace promoted 24/7 access to its care team rather than treating the website as a substitute for human assistance.
The model therefore combined a consumer-facing brand and centralized customer care with local funeral establishments, transportation providers and crematories. It was a technology-enabled death-care provider, not merely a software company.
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What “one flat price” covered
At launch, Solace promoted a $995 package in its Oregon and Washington service area. Launch materials said the price covered the core direct-cremation service, with variable items such as certified copies of death certificates excluded. A later company press kit listed $1,175, and the current Portland page lists $1,195 while also displaying a $995 graphic. Those figures are not interchangeable current quotes.
| Price or claim | How to interpret it |
|---|---|
| $995 | Historical launch price for the early Oregon/Washington service area, not a current nationwide price. |
| $1,175 | Price shown in a later Solace press kit; date and location should be checked before relying on it. |
| $1,195 | Price displayed on the current Portland-area page; confirm the applicable general price list before purchase. |
| Death certificates and special charges | May be extra. Transportation, permits, medical-device removal, oversized cases, after-hours service and jurisdiction-specific requirements can also change the total. |
“All-inclusive” or “flat price” means the provider’s defined package, not every possible expense connected with a death. Prices depend on county, state and circumstances. Families should request the current general price list and a written total.
Where Solace operated
When GeekWire reported on the company in January 2020, Solace had expanded from the Portland area into Washington, including Seattle and King County, and employed about 10 people. Earlier company materials referenced Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington, followed by King, Pierce and Snohomish counties and later Los Angeles County.
The current service-area page lists defined markets and identifies Solace with Tulip Cremation. An online intake form does not imply nationwide availability. Pickup, authorization rules and crematory arrangements must be confirmed for the county where the death occurred.
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Funding and the direct-to-consumer cremation market
Contemporary industry reports put Solace’s seed financing at approximately $1.7 million to $1.745 million. The figures appear to describe the same seed round, intended to support hiring, geographic expansion and digital infrastructure, rather than two separate financings. See Foundation Partners’ industry analysis and Connecting Directors’ funding report.
Cremation was a practical entry point because it can be arranged without the viewing, ceremony and burial logistics associated with many traditional services. Contemporary coverage also placed Solace in a wider direct-to-consumer field that included Tulip Cremation, After.com and other online providers. The opportunity was not simply to put a funeral form on the internet: each new market required licensed operators, transportation, permits, chain-of-custody procedures and compliant crematory capacity.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The human-versus-digital balance
Solace’s thesis was that technology should remove repetitive paperwork and unclear pricing while preserving empathy and professional judgment. Families could avoid an office visit and coordinate across states, but they still needed people to verify identity, explain authorizations, manage exceptions and answer questions.
That distinction matters. “Online cremation” does not mean an automated cremation, a national license or the disappearance of local legal requirements. A service may feel consistent at the website level while its physical execution depends on partners in a particular county.
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What happened to Solace?
Solace’s current Portland page says the brand is now Tulip Cremation. In a 2022 company post, Solace said it was looking forward to its sale and that Foundation Partners Group would support its technology-driven approach. Industry coverage had already connected Foundation Partners with Tulip Cremation.
The available public material supports describing a sale, transition or rebrand into the Tulip operation. It does not establish every transaction term or a precise corporate acquisition date, so those details should not be stated more definitively without a filing or formal announcement.
How to evaluate an online cremation provider
Families comparing Solace/Tulip, another online provider or a local funeral home should check the following before authorizing service:
- Service area: Confirm the exact county and whether pickup is available from a residence, hospital, hospice, nursing facility or medical examiner.
- Included services: Ask about transportation, the alternative container, permits, cremation, an urn or temporary container, death certificates and return shipping.
- Licensing: Identify the funeral establishment and crematory licenses and ask which company has physical custody at each stage.
- Identification: Ask how identity is checked before cremation and what documentation or tracking is provided.
- Timing: Get expected pickup, permit, cremation and return-of-remains timelines, including possible medical-examiner delays.
- Human support: Confirm whether a licensed funeral director is available and whether support is genuinely 24/7 or limited to intake.
- Exceptions: Ask in advance about pacemakers, organ donation, autopsy, communicable disease, bariatric cases, missing identification and next-of-kin disputes.
- Family and religious needs: Direct cremation may not provide viewing, ritual washing, clergy participation or a public ceremony. A separate memorial may be arranged independently.
- At-need versus preplanning: Arrangements made after a death can have different authorization, payment and timing rules from a plan purchased in advance.
The main advantages are fewer office visits, simpler digital paperwork, a clearer package structure and potential savings compared with a traditional funeral. The trade-offs are limited ceremony options, dependence on local partners and the need to scrutinize exclusions behind any advertised flat price.
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