Cremstar in the News

Change in VA Benefits Means Families Now Get $893 to Cremate

PHL17, Nov 8th, 2023

Just in time for Veterans Day, recent changes in VA benefits mean the U.S. government will now reimburse veteran families that qualify up to $893 for a burial or cremation, according to J.G. Sandom, CEO of Cremstar, an online cremation service available in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The previous reimbursement for a funeral or cremation was only $300.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES, November 8, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ – –   “Since Cremstar's starting price for a direct cremation is also $893,” says Sandom, “that's like getting your cremation for free.” The U.S. government will also pay an additional $231 for an urn, and the state will provide free death certificates. “Plus, if you inter that urn in a columbarium,” Sandom adds, “they'll reimburse you yet another $893, just for that.”
Read full article at PHL17.
NFC Tracks Body Transport, Cremation

RFID Journal, August 1st, 2023
With NFC tag attached to body bags, Styx Logistics' funeral home and dispatch customers have digitized data related to when a specific body was picked up or delivered for cremation.

Aug 01, 2023 – Deathcare software company Styx Logistics, Inc. has developed a solution to track bodies as they are picked up from hospitals or other sites and delivered to cremation facilities to ensure mistakes are not made, while also boosting transportation efficiency. The company's app has already been creating a record of a body's pickup, delivery and cremation, while a new NFC technology offering further automates the process by identifying the remains with the tap of a smart phone.
Read full article at RFID Journal.
Leveraging RFID to Track Bodies

ABC27, June 14, 2023
Styx Logistics Leverages RFID Chip to Track Bodies from Removal to Cremation

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES, June 14, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ – –   Philadelphia-based deathcare software developer Styx Logistics has successfully completed a beta test program using an RFID chip to track bodies from their initial removal to their final disposition in area crematories. Styx Logistics offers funeral homes a suite of eCommerce, Content Management (CMS) and Dispatching Logistics software modules and apps, available to funeral homes and mortuary transport services on a subscription (SaaS) basis. With the addition of this patent–pending “digital toe tag,” Styx is now the only deathcare software provider offering complete end–to–end digital tracking through the company's Funeral Director, Driver and Crematory apps.
Read full article at ABC27.
An Epidemic of Loneliness – – Designated Agent (DABD) Form

AP News, June 6, 2023
Cremstar Launches Campaign to Help Singles Designate a New Next–of–Kin

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES, June 6, 2023/ EINPresswire.com / – –  The U.S. Surgeon General recently released an advisory calling attention to the public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection in the United States. Research shows that approximately half of U.S. adults experience loneliness daily. It also highlights that a lack of social connection can present significant health risks, since loneliness can increase risk of premature death by 26% and social isolation by 29%, as well as myriad other negative health conditions.
Read full article at AP News.
Cremation’s Going Digital

SevenPONDS, July 14, 2021
Cremation is seeing a digital transformation behind the imagination of a former New York ad exec. J.G. Sandom spent almost 40 years in the advertising business before he started his latest venture, Cremstar, in 2014. He founded one of the first digital ad agencies, Einstein and Sandom Interactive, in 1984, and got elbow-deep in the digital space by pioneering some of the first digital marketing campaigns in the nascent World Wide Web. He even worked for then-big-4 global ad agency Ogilvy and Mather for a stint in the late 90s as Director of Interactive.
Read full article at SevenPONDS.
Philly startup aims to make cremation easy and affordable

Crain's Philadelphia, September 5, 2018
5 things to know: Startup seems to be like the Uber of cremation. What?
Dell Poncet – Managing Editor, Philadelphia Business Journal, August 31, 2018

Here we go: A story about death, or more precisely, cremation made easy. Startup Cremstar is kind of like the Uber of Ashes, if you get my drift.
Read full article at bizjournals.com.
'Re-branding death' — A Philadelphia startup aims to shake up the funeral industry

by Michelle Caffrey, Philadelphia Business Journal, August 30, 2018

When most consumers are faced with an expense that could cost more than $10,000, they usually do their research. They compare prices, read reviews and talk to people who have been there, done that before buying, often online as digital shopping experiences for even expensive items like cars grows.

But when a loved one dies, that often all goes out the window. The funeral industry, steeped in tradition, has been criticized in the media for its lack of transparency and pricing practices, and in the worst case scenarios, predatory selling practices.

Cremstar...is trying to change at least one part of the equation...
Read full article at bizjournals.com.