By Thomas A. Parmalee
At just 30 years old, Spencer Haik is attempting something that perhaps no one has accomplished: modernizing how funeral homes buy the products they need every day without disrupting the relationships that have long defined the profession.
As co-founder and CEO of Vault Funeral Tech, Haik is building what he describes as the funeral profession’s future operational backbone — a technology platform that begins with procurement but could eventually expand into payments, financing, inventory management and other business services that touch nearly every aspect of funeral home operations.
For Haik, however, the journey into deathcare technology did not begin in a software development lab or a venture capital boardroom. It started decades earlier watching his father, Bryan Haik, working his butt off as a self-employed distributor for Missouri Casket Co.
“My dad is still a casket distributor in Missouri today,” Haik said. “I grew up around funeral directors, casket manufacturers and the wood shops. I was always close to my dad and spent a lot of time talking with him about his work.”
Those conversations revealed a profession operating largely the same way it had for generations.
For a small independent distributor like the one his father worked at, selling products often meant loading a truck, driving hundreds of miles and hoping the funeral directors he planned to visit were available when he arrived.
“Their availability was unpredictable,” Haik recalled. “I remember thinking there had to be a better way to help him and help funeral homes engage in the process more efficiently.”
At the same time, he observed funeral directors juggling countless responsibilities while managing increasingly complex businesses.
“I realized how stretched thin funeral directors were,” he said. “These people were working really hard to do something we could make a lot easier.”
Those early observations would stay with him long after he left Missouri to earn a bachelor’s degree in economics with a special concentration in anthropology from Columbia University in New York City.
Lessons from Finance
Before launching Vault Funeral Tech in early 2026, Haik built a career far removed from funeral service.
He worked as an analyst and valuation specialist for several financial firms, including Tiger Global Management, where he evaluated businesses and studied how software platforms transformed traditional industries.
What he saw convinced him that funeral service remained one of the last major professions operating without a modern procurement infrastructure.
“Well-designed marketplaces and software platforms have transformed a lot of legacy industries,” Haik said. “I believed those same concepts could make a meaningful impact in funeral service.”
Unlike many technology entrepreneurs who enter deathcare from outside the profession, Haik understood its dynamics. Funeral service remains deeply relationship-driven, and suppliers often depend on long-standing distributor networks and personal connections.
Rather than trying to replace those relationships, Haik wanted to build technology that enhanced them.
Creating a Marketplace Instead of Another Distributor
That vision ultimately became Vault Funeral Tech, which according to its website is “the software ecosystem connecting funeral homes with trusted vendors – one platform for ordering, payments and logistics.”
The platform functions as a business-to-business marketplace where funeral homes can purchase products directly from suppliers through a single online interface.
The distinction is important.
Traditional online funeral supply companies generally operate as wholesalers, purchasing inventory and reselling it at a markup. Vault takes a different approach.
“What we’re doing is closer to Shopify, Etsy or Amazon,” Haik explained. “We allow suppliers themselves to create their own storefronts on the platform, upload products and set pricing. They sell directly to funeral homes.”
Vault Funeral Tech does not purchase inventory, warehouse products or resell merchandise.
Instead, the company serves as the digital bridge connecting buyers and sellers. Partners listed on the site include Samuel Mitchell Design, The DW Co., Polyguard & Co., The Living Urn, Woodland Casket Co., Crowne Vault and numerous others.
“We’re simply giving suppliers a medium to interact with funeral homes and push products out to market,” Haik said.
For funeral directors, that means access to multiple suppliers through a single shopping experience. A funeral home can place products from various vendors into one cart, complete a single checkout process and potentially access pricing advantages that might otherwise be unavailable.
“There really isn’t anyone doing exactly what we’re doing,” Haik said. “We’re building a direct-to-supplier marketplace.”
Benefits of the platform for users include:
- Order from multiple vendors through a single platform—no phone calls or faxes.
- Compare products, pricing and delivery times before you buy.
- Vault handles payments, logistics and coordination behind the scenes.
So far, according to the company’s website, orders totaling more than $300,000 have already been placed on the platform.
Building Momentum
Like many startups, Vault Funeral Tech began modestly.
Haik self-funded the company during its first six months while working alongside a software engineer co-founder, George Miao, who built the platform’s initial architecture. As development progressed, the founders raised a friends-and-family investment round that provided funding for the company’s first year of growth. (The two are pictured together at the top of this article.)
“We ran track and cross country together in college,” Haik said of his co-founder. “After years of enduring athletic challenges together, we decided we were a good fit to take on this challenge together.”
Today, approximately 80 funeral homes use the platform, with most located in Missouri and neighboring Midwestern states.
The supplier side of the marketplace has expanded as well.
Vault currently hosts roughly 20 vendors offering caskets, urns, cremation jewelry and other funeral merchandise. One of the original suppliers to join the platform was the casket company where Haik’s father works, which validated the concept from the outset.
The company earns revenue by charging suppliers a 10% commission on completed transactions while keeping participation free for funeral homes.
“We’ve tried to make the barrier to entry as low as possible,” Haik said. “There are no signup fees. We verify funeral homes and vet suppliers, then take a small commission when sales occur.”
The approach appears to be resonating.
According to Haik, most funeral homes that make a purchase on the platform continue using it.
“When people hear the idea, they immediately understand it,” he said. “Many start offering suggestions and ideas for improvements. We’ve already added a number of features based directly on feedback from funeral directors.”
For instance, Vault Funeral Tech has built in the ability to add customization for certain products. Customers also requested the ability to input a “need by date” to make sure products are delivered to families prior to a service.
Winning Trust in a Relationship Business
One of the company’s greatest challenges has been introducing technology into a profession built on personal relationships.
Haik estimates that roughly 30% of funeral directors still prefer traditional purchasing methods and direct conversations with supplier representatives.
The rest, however, have proved receptive.
“I’d say it’s about 70-30,” he said. “Some people want to talk to their person, and that’s totally fine. But most have been receptive because they see how it can save time.”
The same dynamic exists among suppliers.
Most vendors have embraced the concept because Vault Funeral Tech provides direct access to funeral homes while functioning as a sales and marketing channel rather than a competing distributor.
A few manufacturers remain cautious because of concerns about disrupting existing distributor relationships.
To address those concerns, Vault is developing tools that would allow manufacturers to assign territories or geographic regions to distributors while still participating on the platform.
“We’re trying to build something that benefits everyone rather than something that disrupts the industry,” Haik said.
Looking Beyond Procurement
Although procurement is Vault Funeral Tech’s starting point, Haik’s ambitions extend further.
His long-term vision is to create a comprehensive operational platform for funeral homes.
The company has already begun developing a family-facing component that would allow funeral directors to present merchandise options digitally while maintaining control over retail pricing.
Vault Funeral Tech is also exploring integrations with funeral financing providers that could simplify funding arrangements and payment management.
Beyond that, inventory management, financial services and software integrations remain under consideration.
“We’re still evaluating whether we build some of those ourselves or integrate with existing providers,” Haik said. “There are a lot of great systems already out there. Working together can help us get into more funeral homes and support them faster.”
Before expanding into those adjacent services, however, Haik remains focused on one primary objective: making Vault Funeral Tech indispensable as a procurement platform.
The next phase involves adding more suppliers, more categories and eventually covering virtually every product a funeral home purchases, from preparation room supplies and stationery to vehicles and other major equipment.
“Stage one is creating enough density that funeral homes can find the products they need on the platform,” he said. “We’re probably 30 to 40% of the way there today.”
Listening First
As Vault Funeral Tech continues to grow, Haik believes the company’s greatest advantage may not be technology at all.
It may be humility.
Despite growing up around funeral service, he acknowledges there is still much to learn.
“We have some background in the industry, but we’re incredibly aware of what we don’t know,” Haik said. “Every funeral home we talk to teaches us something new about how to make the platform better.”
That philosophy has shaped the company’s approach from the beginning.
Rather than arriving with a Silicon Valley mentality and a plan to reinvent funeral service, Haik spent countless hours attending state association conventions, visiting funeral homes and personally driving from town to town throughout Missouri gathering feedback.
“This is such a relationship-based industry,” he said. “Putting boots on the ground and talking to people has been incredibly important.”
For an entrepreneur who grew up watching his father drive hundreds of miles to serve funeral directors, there is a certain symmetry in that approach.
The technology may be new. The mission, however, remains remarkably familiar: helping suppliers connect with funeral homes more efficiently while giving funeral professionals more time to focus on the families they serve.
If Haik succeeds, Vault Funeral Tech may become much more than an online marketplace. It could become a central hub connecting manufacturers, suppliers, funeral homes and families in ways that surprise the profession.
Schedule a demo with Vault Funeral Tech.
Learn more about Vault Funeral Tech.
