Better Place Forests
Founded 2025 · 7 employees on LinkedIn · 1 known investors
Better Place Forests is a nonprofit that offers nature-based programs, grief support services, and conservation initiatives to help people cope with loss. It works with a community of partners and supporters to provide access to nature for remembrance and healing.
Also known as Better Place · Better Place Forests
Founders & leadership
Better Place Forests was founded in 2025 by Sandy Gibson.
Investors · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Better Place (Better Place Forests) is an end-of-life services company that coordinates cremation and memorialization online, without requiring visits to a funeral home. Its cremation offering, available in California, includes flame cremation, aquamation and natural organic reduction, and is bundled with respectful transportation, paperwork and permits, online interactive obituaries, executor assistance and ongoing grief support. Cremation services are advertised starting at $3,495.
The company also sells living memorials at nine protected Memorial Forests located across the United States, where ashes can legally be returned to nature at a private Memorial Tree or in a shared Spreading Grove. Related products include Nature Memorial Ceremonies and permanent bronze Memorial Markers, with memorial packages advertised starting at $2,250. A partner foundation focuses on protecting the forest land, memorial gatherings, grief support and conservation. In October 2024 the company acquired Butterfly.co, a digital memorial and obituary platform, which it planned to rebrand as Better Place Memories.
Business model
Direct-to-consumer sale of cremation services and memorial products, including at-need arrangements and prepaid preplanning packages that lock in pricing, plus memorial trees, spreading groves, ceremonies and markers in its forests. A partner nonprofit foundation handles forest protection, grief support and conservation activities.
Fees paid by families for cremation services (advertised from $3,495) and for living memorials in Memorial Forests (advertised from $2,250), sold either at time of need or prepaid in advance.
Latest developments
The October 2024 acquisition of Butterfly.co added digital memorial pages and obituaries to the company's offering, and the company now markets a combined cremation and memorial service line under the Better Place brand alongside its nine Memorial Forests.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Described in company materials as the creator of America's first Memorial Forests and a provider of nature-based end-of-life experiences, combining physical forest sites with digital memorial products following the Butterfly acquisition.
Positions itself as a complete online cremation and memorialization service with no funeral home visits, transparent pricing without hidden fees, 24/7 human support, carbon-neutral cremation, and a resting place in a protected forest rather than a traditional cemetery.
Technology
A digital platform for coordinating cremation arrangements, paperwork and permits, prepaid planning, and interactive online obituaries where families share stories, photos and videos; expanded through the acquired Butterfly digital memorial platform.
Go-to-market
Online, digital-first arrangement flow segmented by need state (immediate need, near-term need, holding ashes, preplanning), supported by guides available 24/7, a content library of grief and planning resources, an email welcome guide, and customer reviews.
Families arranging immediate cremation and memorial services, people preparing for an expected death, individuals holding a loved one's ashes, and consumers preplanning their own arrangements.
Geography
Headquartered in San Francisco; cremation and funeral services serve California, while nine Memorial Forests operate nationwide, including the St. Croix Valley Memorial Forest in Minnesota.
History
Founded in 2015 as Better Place Forests. In October 2024, under CEO Adam Tibbs, it acquired the digital memorial and obituary platform Butterfly.co, planning to rebrand it as Better Place Memories as part of a strategy to combine forest memorials with digital tributes.
Compiled by commissioned research from 3 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 1
launches, deals, and filingsBetter Place Forests announced the acquisition of Butterfly.co, a digital memorial and obituary platform, to combine its physical Memorial Forest sites with online tributes. The Butterfly platform was to be rebranded as Better Place Memories. Butterfly CEO Pankaj Shah joined with the acquisition.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 3
primary sources listed
- Better Place Forests exitedbetterplaceforests.com · web
3 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Better Place Forests do?
- Better Place is a digital-first cremation and memorial company offering carbon-neutral cremation and living memorials in protected forests.
- Who founded Better Place Forests?
- Better Place Forests was founded by Sandy Gibson in 2025.
- Who are Better Place Forests's investors?
- Better Place Forests's investors include The Chernin Group (TCG Crypto).