After developing their idea for an online funeral services resource at the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business’ 10-Xelerator last summer, Mike Belsito and Bryan Chaikin have proved eFuneral to be a successful endeavor.

Originally called FunerAlly, the company was founded in June 2011. Belsito and Chaikin changed to name to eFuneral when they went live in February. The company provides an online platform for families to quickly find, compare and select a funeral provider.  “eFuneral is a simple way for our customer base to understand it is technology focused,” explains Belsito. “One of the things we underestimated is how difficult it would be to create a brand name.”

After some tweaking to make sure eFuneral is easily found through search engines like Google, business has boomed. Sixty-five funeral homes in Northeast and Central Ohio are now listed on the site. “We want to make sure that when others turn to the web to find funeral services they find eFuneral,” says Belsito. “Dozens of inquiries immediately came through, from pre-planning to immediate needs.”

Offline, groups like Hospice and religious organizations have partnered with eFuneral. The service is free for users. Revenue is earned through marketing fees and premium memberships that funeral homes purchase.

eFuneral is doing well. The company now has four employees. The company is still on a learning curve, but Belsito and Chaikin are eager learners. “Our goal is to prove the model we built and the business we built and learn as much from our customers as we can,” Belsito says. “Year one is about learning as much as we can so we can scale up nationally.”

Source: Mike Belsito
Writer: Karin Connelly