Queen City Angels ("QCA") today announced an investment in CRaKN (http://www.crakn.net), a cloud-based software solution for the death-care industry. The company's software-as-a-service enables funeral home operators and related suppliers to benefit from the cloud for various business functions, including enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management, which will enhance their ability to manage, track and optimize the funeral process for families. CRaKN plans to use the QCA investment to add new team members who will help take the company's technology solutions to a broader market.
"For CRaKN, raising money in our own hometown was important to us," said Scott Mindrum, president and CEO of CRaKN and QCA member. "We have received tremendous support from multiple QCA members since inception of our company, from financial modeling and information technology to marketing. They keep us in the loop for opportunities and events in the community, and have shared our story with other investor organizations outside the city to help us raise the capital we need. We are also fortunate to have ongoing board support from QCA members Terry Wright and Steve Baggott as we move forward. Both of them bring extensive sales and marketing experience to our team."
Mindrum added, "There has never been a better time to start a business in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area than right now. The resources are vast, and most are there for the taking. We are tenants at HCDC, members of Cintrifuse and raised capital from QCA, so we speak from experience."
Both CRaKN management and QCA investors recognize opportunities for other technology offerings that the company can provide through strategic partnerships, third-party integrations, new feature "bolt-on" services and analytics. In addition, while the death rate is projected to double in the next twenty years, attendance and graduation from the nations 59 accredited mortuary programs are significantly down from historical levels. As a result, funeral directors will increasingly need to do more with less. Solving this industry challenge is part of CRaKN's vision.
"We are excited to have CRaKN as one of our portfolio companies for a number of reasons," said Wright. "There is nothing like CRaKN in our investment profile, and the management team is unique with its strong background and connections in the death care industry. Senior members of the CRaKN team have extensive backgrounds in providing cloud-based software solutions specifically to this vertical market. The combination of a strong technology, focused market, experienced team and early success gave us great confidence in the potential for CRaKN to quickly become a local success story."
About CRaKN
CRaKN is a Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) business solution for the death-care industry. CRaKN streamlines how funeral professionals manage, track, and organize their entire operation with easy to use tools that automate routine business and accounting processes. In addition, funeral homes become more efficient using CRaKN tools that enhance communication, coordination and collaboration with staff, suppliers and families. Ultimately, directors and staff can then use the time saved on routine processes to better focus on the most important needs of the families they serve. Learn more about how funeral professionals are optimizing all their resources, becoming more collaborative, and saving time on each case with CRaKN at http://www.crakn.net.
About Queen City Angels
The Queen City Angels (QCA) is a group of more than 50 experienced accredited investors who provide funding, support and guidance to early-stage growth companies in the Cincinnati area and surrounding region. QCA members, which include former C-level executives and entrepreneurs, draw from their personal operating and management experience to evaluate opportunities and provide on-going mentoring to young businesses with exceptional growth potential. Since 2000, QCA members have directly invested approximately $50 million in nearly 80 portfolio companies. The total capital invested in these companies, including QCA members' capital, syndication partners' capital, follow-on venture capital funds and venture debt is in excess of $410,000,000. CB Insight recently ranked QCA second out of 370 national angel organizations. For additional information, visit http://www.qca.com.