Compliance services break through the barriers of data construction, and Chonghengji seeks seed round financing.

Chonghengji Seeks Seed Round Financing to Solve Industry Pain Points of Compliance and Emotional Needs with "Asset - light + Digitalization" in the Pet Industry

In the current context of the continuously warming pet economy and the deepening trend of "treating pets as family members", the pet funeral service, a niche segment with both emotional attributes and compliance requirements, is facing industry dilemmas such as low efficiency of traditional service models, insufficient compliance, and lack of emotional value. As a digital pet funeral service platform focusing on the southern Henan region, Chonghengji, with its innovative model of "core stores in urban areas + asset - light service points in counties + a whole - region data management platform", is trying to fill the gap in the mid - end affordable market, promote the transformation of the pet funeral industry from a "disorderly" state to a "compliant, digital, and emotional" one, and tap into this regional blue - ocean market worth over 100 million yuan with an annual growth rate of 25%.

36Kr has learned that Chonghengji is seeking 1 million yuan in seed - round financing, with a post - investment valuation of 12 million yuan. This startup project deeply rooted in the local southern Henan market has completed the site selection verification of its core store in Xinyang urban area and the prototype development of its data platform. After the financing, it plans to expand the team to 6 - 8 people, aiming to cover 8 counties and 1 district in southern Henan within 24 months, acquire more than 200 paying enterprise customers (pet hospitals/pet stores) and over 1,500 C - end users, and achieve an annual recurring revenue of 800,000 - 1 million yuan.

Starting from Regional Pain Points: Breaking the Deadlock with Compliant Services and Building Barriers through Digitalization

The birth of the Chonghengji project stems from the founder's in - depth insight into the "supply - demand mismatch" pain points in the southern Henan pet funeral market. On the one hand, with the tightening policy supervision (the "Animal Epidemic Prevention Law" prohibits self - burial or discarding of pet remains), there are fewer than 15 compliant institutions in the region, and 90% of the county - level markets are served by non - compliant "individual burners". On the other hand, high - end institutions charge more than 2,000 yuan per order, leaving mid - end pet owners (with an average monthly pet - keeping expense of 500 - 1,500 yuan) in a dilemma of "high - priced compliant services and non - compliant affordable services". Moreover, traditional services lack emotional memorials and process transparency.

Based on this, Chonghengji chose to enter the southern Henan region (centered on Xinyang and radiating to Zhumadian and Nanyang), adopting the core strategies of "reducing costs through asset - light cooperation, improving efficiency through digital services, and retaining customers through emotional experiences" to build a differentiated competitive advantage:

The project started market research in early 2025, and by November this year, it had completed the site selection of a 300 - square - meter core store in Xinyang urban area (with an annual rent of 80,000 yuan)

1. Asset - light Network Architecture: Instead of building its own cremation workshop, it signs exclusive agreements with regional compliant treatment plants (with a processing fee of 120 - 280 yuan per order, reducing costs by 60% compared to the heavy - asset model), and combines it with "shared pet - store spaces" in counties (with a startup cost of only 5,000 yuan per service point) to achieve a "one - hour service circle" coverage;

2. Whole - region Digital Foundation: It develops a WeChat mini - program and a PC - end data platform to achieve full - process video evidence storage (encrypted by blockchain) for "remains pick - up, cremation, farewell, and delivery" and permanent storage of pet profiles (including breed, birthday, and death - anniversary reminders), solving the pain points of "opaque process and lack of memory carriers" in traditional services;

3. Tiered Emotional Services: It provides "customized farewell ceremonies + high - end souvenirs" (such as 3D pet models) for mid - end customers in urban areas and "basic cremation + simple memorials" (such as paw - print rubbings) for affordable customers in counties, taking into account both compliance and emotional needs.

The founder said, "We are not just providing a single funeral service but building a regional platform for 'pet life memorial + data management'. Southern Henan is our first testing ground. In the future, we will replicate our 'compliance + data + emotion' capabilities to more third - and fourth - tier cities through the 'service - point + brand - authorization' model."

Its development path is clear and controllable: In the seed - round stage, it focuses on the southern Henan region, verifies the feasibility of the model through "core stores + county - level points", and accumulates C - end user data and B - end cooperation resources; in the Series A stage, it starts brand authorization in surrounding cities and builds a cross - regional data center; in the long run, it will form a full - life - cycle service platform for "pet funeral + insurance + health management", building double barriers of data and brand.

A 1 - billion - yuan Regional Blue Ocean: Growth Driven by Compliance, with a Penetration Rate of Less than 5%

Firstly, the scale of the Chinese pet funeral market has exceeded 10 billion yuan. Secondly, the southern Henan region (Xinyang, Zhumadian, Nanyang, and Zhoukou) has become a highly potential niche market due to its large pet - keeping base (about 841,000 urban pets) and few compliant institutions:

Market Size: The potential annual demand for pet funerals in southern Henan is about 67,000 - 84,000 orders. Calculated at an average of 1,500 yuan per order, the regional market size exceeds 100 million yuan, with an annual growth rate of 25% (higher than the national average of 20%);

Significant Pain Points: Traditional services have three core problems - low efficiency (it takes 2 - 3 hours for pet owners in counties to send their pets to other cities), high cost (high - end institutions charge more than 2,000 yuan per order, which is unaffordable for small and medium - sized enterprises/county - level users), and poor experience (no farewell ceremonies, opaque cremation processes, and emotional needs are ignored);

Policy Dividends: Henan Province issued the "Special Rectification Plan for the Harmless Treatment of Pet Corpses" in 2024, requiring full - coverage of compliant treatment at the "city - county" level by the end of 2025. Those who handle pet remains illegally will be fined up to 50,000 yuan, bringing a market dividend period for compliant institutions.

In the international market, the US pet funeral brand Petco has achieved an annual revenue of over 500 million US dollars through its "offline stores + online memorial platform", verifying the feasibility of the "emotion + data" model; the domestic market is still in its infancy, and Chonghengji's strategy of in - depth regional development is expected to gain a first - mover advantage in the wave of compliance.

A Ten - year Evolution Blueprint: From a Regional Service Platform to a Pet Life Management Ecosystem

Chonghengji has planned a ten - year development path, divided into three stages to achieve the upgrade from a regional funeral service to a pet life management ecosystem:

Firstly (2025 - 2026, the Seed - round Implementation Period): It focuses on Xinyang in southern Henan, completes the construction of "1 core store in the urban area + 6 county - level service points", and the data platform realizes core functions such as "order synchronization, pet profiles, and service monitoring"; the goal is to acquire more than 200 B - end cooperation customers (pet hospitals/pet stores) and over 1,500 C - end users, achieve an annual recurring revenue of 800,000 - 1 million yuan, and a 100% service compliance rate.

Secondly (2027 - 2029, the Series A Expansion Period): It replicates the "core store + service point" model to other cities in southern Henan (Zhumadian and Nanyang), achieving full - coverage in 6 cities in southern Henan; the data platform adds modules such as "pet insurance connection" and "health records", extending from "funeral services" to "life management"; the goal is to authorize 3 - 5 brands and achieve an annual revenue of over 5 million yuan.

Finally (2030 - 2035, the Ecosystem Formation Period): It builds a national "pet life service platform", integrating services across the entire chain of funeral, insurance, health, and memorial; it launches the "Chonghengji Public Welfare Fund" (donating 10 yuan per order for stray - animal rescue) to build a social public - welfare brand image; ultimately, it realizes the prototype of a "digital life form" - providing users with personalized full - life - cycle services based on pet data.

Project Information

• Project Name: Chonghengji - A Digital Pet Funeral Service Platform in Southern Henan (From Compliant Services to a Life Management Ecosystem)

• Financing Requirement: 1 million yuan (seed round)

• Post - investment Valuation: 12 million yuan | Equity Transfer: 20%

• Core Goal: Cover 8 counties and 1 district in southern Henan within 24 months and achieve an annual recurring revenue of 800,000 - 1 million yuan

• Contact Email: 498832482@qq.com

As an innovative pet funeral project deeply rooted in the regional market, Chonghengji firmly believes that through the "asset - light + digitalization" model, it can not only solve the pain points of pet owners such as "difficult compliance, high prices, and poor experiences" but also seize the policy dividend period to quickly occupy the market. With the support of capital, Chonghengji is expected to become the "compliance benchmark" in the pet funeral industry in southern Henan and gradually replicate its successful experience across the country, promoting the entire industry to develop in a more compliant and empathetic direction.