Investor Overview

Help us manifest this vision

Where grief becomes a garden, and nature holds what we cannot.

Sheila Mahoutchian · Founder
Confidential · June 2026

Origin

Grief is just love with nowhere to go.

When my mother died on April 24, 2026, she left the burial to us because she understood we were the ones who would carry the experience. I decided to have a willow planted at her grave, because it honored who she was.

Focusing on that willow helped me face her death — because in death, she could take on new form, pass into some kind of new life. Not an ending. A transformation. But what I encountered was a system that, even at its most accommodating, placed her in a biodegradable coffin inside a cement liner with a tree planted nearby. I was grateful. And I knew it wasn't enough.

My father tends that willow now, through the hot North Carolina summer — carrying extra water, laying down mounds of mulch, building a small brick border by hand. Watching him tend it in real time is my first proof of concept: if grief is love with nowhere to go, then tending gives it a home.

This experience, filtered through twenty years as an experience designer and builder, became a question: what if grief had somewhere warm to go?

Baharestan is the answer.

The Case

A grave is a destination. A garden is a relationship.

Baharestan Gardens is a first-of-its-kind botanical cultural institution that performs burial as a full-circle grief experience. With a $2B evolving green burial market, 76M aging Baby Boomers, and an industry ripe for disruption, there is nothing like it in existence.

This is not just cemetery work. It is a designed experience that meets families at the moment of loss and stays with them through the months and years beyond — planting ceremonies, memorial salons, seasonal return visits, overnight stays, and an ongoing relationship with a living garden. Stickiness is built into the model: families don't come once, they come back to tend their grief and to heal over time.

The pages that follow contain the full market analysis, financial model, competitive landscape, land strategy, and the ask.

Market Opportunity

The door is wide open — but it won't stay that way.

Annual U.S. deaths will climb from 2.8 million today to 3.6 million by 2037. The death care industry is $27 billion — and structurally unchanged. The death positivity movement is mainstream. The consumer has not waited.

$27B
US death care market · growing to $40B by 2035
The Industry

The US death care market is $27 billion and growing — but built on a model of throughput, not care. Consolidation and decades of indifference have hollowed it out exactly as the largest death cohort in American history begins to arrive. The gap between what the industry offers and what families need has never been wider.

60%
want green or natural burial · NFDA 2025
The Shift

60% of Americans say they want green or natural burial. Cremation has crossed 62% and is climbing toward 80% by 2035 — not because it is ideal, but because conventional burial has failed them. End-of-life doulas have quadrupled since 2019. People are not just accepting death — they are seeking meaning around it. The demand exists. The infrastructure does not.

68K
annual deaths, Los Angeles County
The Persian Opportunity

California is home to the largest Persian diaspora outside Iran — an estimated 500,000–700,000 statewide, with the largest concentration in LA County where 68,000 people die each year. Predominantly secular, professionally established, and tightly networked, this community has no meaningful burial tradition that fits who they are. That is not a gap. It is a founder market.

Sources: US Death Care Market, Mark Wide Research 2026  ·  NFDA 2025 Consumer Awareness & Preferences Study  ·  NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report  ·  Death Cafe Network

Competitive Landscape

The ecosystem is building itself.
Baharestan is what holds it together.

When a family loses someone, they encounter a system built for throughput, not grief. The alternatives are emerging — green burial, terramation, forest memorials — but none of them offer families a place for it all to fully land. Baharestan is that experience.

Tier 1 — Direct competitors

Land-based, competing for the same family at the moment of loss

Burial options key:  G = Green burial  ·  T = Terramation (via partner)  ·  C = Cremation

Urban-adjacent Extended hours Botanical design Burial options Lodge / overnight Cultural programming
Baharestan Gardens ✓✓✓G · T · C✓✓
Fernwood Mill Valley · GBC certified ✓ — Partial G · C — —
Hollywood Forever LA · GBC hybrid ✓ — — G · C — ✓
Better Place Forests $80M raised — — — C — —
Traditional cemetery ✓ — — C — —

Tier 2 — Natural partners

Upstream or adjacent — they need what Baharestan provides

Company What they do Why they need Baharestan
Earth Funeral $49.6M raised · CA licensed Soil transformation — converts body to nutrient-rich soil in 45 days. Families receive soil to scatter or plant. Remainder goes to anonymous conservation land. Baharestan is the missing destination. A designed garden that receives the soil, gives it a home, and gives families somewhere to return to. The planting ceremony is their missing last mile.
Recompose $20M+ raised · Seattle Human composting facility expanding nationally. Transforms body into soil over 30 days. Same gap as Earth Funeral. They transform, we receive. Families currently have nowhere designed to bring the soil. Baharestan changes that.
Capsula Mundi Italian design · MoMA-exhibited Biodegradable egg-shaped burial pod — cremation urn available now, whole-body pod in development. A tree is planted above the pod. They make the vessel. Baharestan is the garden it goes into. The pod was always designed for a place like this — a botanically curated garden where families return to tend what grows above their loved one.

The path requires cemetery licensing, conservation easements, and conditional use permitting — a combination that has kept designers out and operators uninterested in design. That gap is exactly where Baharestan lives. We are identifying sites in permissive counties and will conduct pre-application meetings before committing capital to any parcel.

Business Model

Asset-backed. Recurring. Defensible.

Burial Plots, Companions & Remembrance garden plots · dedicated trees · pet companions · diaspora dedications~$5.8M/yr at maturity
Interment & Services burial ceremony · planting service · memorial add-ons · charged at burial~$2.7M/yr at maturity
Pre-Need Forward Sales advance plot reservations · 60% of annual burial volume · avg $32K~$2.9M/yr at maturity
Lodge & Cottage Hospitality 10 rooms · 5 cottages · family meals · tea house · event catering$1.25M/yr at maturity
Retreats & Programs grief retreats · workshops · cultural programs · counseling~$910K/yr at maturity
Cultural Events & Foundation ceremonies · weddings · salons · gift shop · giving~$900K/yr at maturity
Annual Care Subscriptions $500/plot/yr · accrues as burial portfolio grows~$840K/yr at maturity

22% of burial plot revenue flows into an irrevocable CA perpetual care trust (state minimum: 15%) — ~$924K/yr at maturity. Built-in financial sustainability from day one.

Cemetery entity pursuing 501(c)(13) status (federal income tax exemption on burial operations). Baharestan Foundation pursuing 501(c)(3) for educational and cultural programming.

Lifetime Value per Burial
Conservative
~$38,750
Mid
~$78,000
Premium
~$166,000
10-Year Revenue Model
$13–16M

projected annual revenue per site at maturity · 8 revenue layers

EBITDA Margin (after opex + endowment)
~76%
Net Margin (after debt service)
~73%

Illustrative · Single Urban-Adjacent NorCal Site · Phased Buildout

Yr 1–2
$1.5M–$2M
Lodge & programming open · first pre-need sales · landmark selling · remembrance & pet dedications launch
Yr 3–4
$4M–$7M
25–50 burials/yr · all 8 revenue layers online · add-ons & additional interments building
Yr 5–6
$9M–$12M
80–110 burials/yr · pre-need compounding · interment portfolio growing · landmark sold out
Yr 7+
$13M–$15.5M
150 burials/yr (demand-limited) · all 8 layers at maturity · ~76% EBITDA margin
Burial & Services
Pre-Need Sales
Lodge & Cottage
Programs & Retreats
Events & Foundation
Operating Costs at Maturity (Yr 8+)
Staff (14–16 FTE fully loaded, incl. F&B)~$1.6M
Grounds, plants & irrigation~$220K
Perpetual Care Endowment (22% of plot rev)~$924K
Marketing, insurance & legal~$350K
Food COGS & lodge ops~$250K
Total (incl. endowment + debt service)~$3.8M
Model Assumptions
37+ acre NorCal site · Alamo / Contra Costa County
T1 $5K · T2 (Family Plot) $32K · T3 (Grove Tree) $50K · Landmark avg $150K · Interment Fee separate ($8.5K avg)
Burial ramp: 0 → 25 → 80 → 130 → 150/yr (demand-limited · ~3 ceremonies/week)
8 landmark positions (axis · qanat cistern) · avg $150K · comparables: HF willow $273K
Pre-need sales begin Yr 1 · 60% of burials pre-need · avg $32K
Perpetual care endowment: 22% of burial plot revenue (~$925K at maturity)
Additional interments: returning families · $10K/interment · ramp to 70/yr by Yr 9
All 8 revenue layers: burial, pre-need, hospitality & F&B, programs, events, foundation, remembrance, pets
Beyond Burial

Not a cemetery. A botanical cultural institution that performs burial.

Hollywood Forever hosts Día de los Muertos for 100,000 people a year. Outdoor cinema, concerts, weddings — a cemetery that became a cultural destination people choose for living. Baharestan runs the same playbook with a Persian garden identity: a place people return to for Yalda, for a wedding, for a grief retreat — long before they need it, and long after.

Celebrations & Cultural Events
$45–75/ticket

The Persian solar calendar maps perfectly onto a garden — Norooz at the spring equinox, Tirgan at midsummer, Mehregan at the autumn harvest, Yalda Night at the winter solstice. Add weddings and milestone ceremonies and Baharestan has built-in programming all year. Families don't find Baharestan when someone dies. They already love it.

Garden Membership
$750/yr

Year-round garden access, workshops, and member events. Builds a loyal community with deep place-attachment — the single strongest driver of pre-need conversion and family referral.

Lodge & Grief Retreats
Overnight
Immersion

Forest cottages tucked along the Grove for solitary retreat stays, and structured grief retreats combining somatic healing, ceremony, and time in the garden. Highest revenue per guest. Deepest relationship with the land.

Market Strategy

NorCal first. SoCal flagship. Then everywhere.

NorCal · Years 1–5
Phase One — Contra Costa / East Bay
  • Lower land cost ($1–1.5M for 30–40 acres)
  • A-2 zoning favorable for cemetery use
  • Walnut Creek, Danville, Alamo — large Persian community
  • 30 minutes from Oakland, BART-adjacent
  • Avoids direct competition with Fernwood in Marin
  • $750K seed · $4–5M development raise
SoCal · Years 5–8
Phase Two — Ventura / SoCal
  • 3x larger death volume (100K+ deaths/year)
  • 300–400K secular Persian-Americans
  • Higher revenue per transaction ($20–28K)
  • Metrolink access from LA/Encino/Tarzana
  • SoCal SAM: $180–280M annually at maturity
National · Years 10+
Phase Three — Franchise & Extension
  • Durham, NC — Aria Center partnership · #2 green burial state · founder anchor
  • Texas — Persian community, low land cost
  • Hudson Valley — NYC market access
  • Franchise or licensed operator model for further expansion
Risk & Mitigation

The primary execution risk is land use permitting — conditional use permits for cemetery operations can take 18–36 months in California. Mitigation: we are identifying multiple parcels in permissive counties and will conduct pre-application meetings with planning departments before committing capital to any site. The seed round is specifically sized to complete this work before the development raise.

Site Analysis

Candidate parcels — ranked by all-in cost.

List price alone is misleading — ranked by estimated all-in cost (land + infrastructure)

The Honest Read

Adjusted for infrastructure, Williams Canyon and Wild Horse Valley come out closest in true all-in cost despite very different list prices — both have already absorbed most of their development cost. Lark Lane's NorCal "bargain" disappears once the access road is priced in, landing it as the most expensive all-in option despite the lowest-looking acreage price.

SoCal is the stronger region overall: 300–400K secular Persian-Americans, 3x the death volume, a proven cemetery-permitting pathway in LA County, and two strong right-sized candidates (Williams Canyon, Old Topanga Canyon Rd). NorCal's appeal is founder proximity, not market size.

Working through the actual program — the chahar bagh garden with three burial tiers (3–5ac), a 10-room ceremony lodge with grounds (1.5–2.5ac), a labyrinth (0.5–1ac), the Grove for legacy trees including 4–6 small forest cottages woven into its edges for solitary retreat stays (3.5–6ac), plus access road, parking, and setbacks (1.5–2.5ac) — the real built need lands at roughly 12–15 acres.

Two distinct retreat experiences: the Village near the entrance (social, arrival-oriented) and Forest Cottages tucked along the Grove (solitary, embedded in nature). Williams Canyon and Mountain King Rd both have comfortable room. Old Topanga Canyon Rd is the closest size match in SoCal. Danielle Lane's 10 acres is tight but workable. Wild Horse Valley's 150 acres remains the clearest overbuild.

The Founder

Sheila Mahoutchian

Founder, Baharestan Gardens · Founder, Scavenger Design

Baharestan requires someone who can hold three things simultaneously: the vision of a designer, the discipline of a builder, and the cultural authority to make it true. Most people who enter death care come from healthcare or conservation. Most designers have never pulled a permit. Most builders have never led a grief ceremony.

I am built for this moment. Twenty years of experience design taught me that the gap between what people need and what they're offered is always where the most important work lives. I have spent my career in that gap.

The Founding Team

The roles Baharestan needs to open its doors.

Founder & CEO
Sheila Mahoutchian

Vision, design, brand, construction oversight, and community. The through-line of the whole thing.

Licensed Funeral Director
Seeking · GBC Certified

Regulatory compliance, disposition services, death certificate filing, and liaison with the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau.

Horticulturalist
Seeking · Native Plant Specialist

Plant-to-person matching, garden design and maintenance, soil preparation, climate adaptation. The science beneath the poetry.

Ritual Director
Seeking · Multi-cultural background

Planting ceremonies, memorial salons, cultural events, Lodge programming. Brings warmth, cultural fluency, and the ability to hold grief in a room.

Death Doula
Seeking · End-of-life trained

Guides families through the dying and burial process with presence and care. The human anchor between the family and every other part of the operation.

Finance & Fundraising Lead
Seeking · Impact investment background

Capital strategy, investor relations, grant identification, and financial modeling. Understands land-backed, mission-aligned investment structures.

The Ask
$750K
Seed Round

Feasibility study, site identification, pre-application permitting meetings, and early team. Structured to derisk the development raise.

$4–5M
Development Round

Land acquisition, construction, licensing, and launch. Pre-need sales expected to cover a meaningful portion of operating costs before opening.

Seeking early conversations with:

Impact Investors
Land-backed, mission-aligned capital. $13–16M annual revenue per site at maturity (8 revenue layers), ~76% EBITDA · ~73% net after debt service.
Land Partners
20–40 acres in Contra Costa County or East Bay hills. Conservation-adjacent, A-2 or agricultural zoning preferred.
Advisory Partners
Cemetery licensing, death care regulation, Persian community leaders, botanical experts.
Design Partners
Capsula Mundi — we are building the garden their pod was always meant to live in.

I am Persian-American — the chahar bagh is not a design reference for me, it is a memory. I arranged my own mother's burial and encountered every gap this garden is designed to fill.

When I lost someone I loved deeply, I encountered that gap firsthand. Every person I have spoken to since who has been through recent loss describes the same thing: the options felt inadequate. Not evil, not uncaring — just not built for the fullness of a life, or the people left behind to honor it.

That is a universal problem. Baharestan is the answer it has been waiting for.

Sheila Mahoutchian  ·  Founder, Baharestan Gardens  ·  June 2026

© 2026 Baharestan Gardens. All rights reserved. Confidential — prepared for investor review only.

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