Tumbleweed — 2025 Catalysts Honoree
From the Heartland to the Heart of the Matter: Innovation, Caregiving & Community
From a road trip stop in Iowa to a caregiving tech startup, Tumbleweed is proof that you don’t need Silicon Valley to build something meaningful.
At the 2025 Catalysts Live event on July 17th, Paul H. Richardson, Jr., founder and CEO of Tumbleweed, took the stage to explain more.
Tumbleweed’s story began on a cross-country road trip and came to life in Iowa, proving you don’t need to be in Silicon Valley to build something that matters.
On that trip, Paul H. Richardson, Jr. stopped in Iowa to honor his grandparents who had recently passed away. After visiting their hometowns of Jesup and Independence and making stops to commemorate them along the way, he started thinking about all the end-of-life decisions caregivers face.
Richardson believed technology could help.
“The opportunity isn’t just in focusing on aging and end of life, but in the family caregiver."
He noted that 330,000 Iowans are family caregivers, meaning they juggle their own lives and work while caring for aging adults, often parents, but sometimes a neighbor or friend. Altogether, that accounts for 310 million unpaid caregiving hours annually. Nationwide, one in five adults are caring for an aging person. By 2040, it will be one in three.
The massive financial implications of caregiving pushed Richardson to look for a solution. That spark eventually grew into Tumbleweed, an end-of-life planning company that provides accessible online resources and tools, including ways to coordinate and manage arrangements remotely, 24/7.
But before Tumbleweed could become a reality, Richardson had to overcome some challenges — namely, that he didn’t come from a startup background. He didn’t know what “Series A founder” or “Big Seed funding” meant. There was a steep learning curve.
He also had trouble pitching to investors in Southern California, where he’s from, even though it’s considered a hub for tech entrepreneurship. So, Richardson started looking elsewhere and came across startup accelerators across the country. That’s how he found Startup Weekend Iowa City. He was on a flight to the event the very next day.
Right before his pitch, he watched as Des Moines-based developer Colleen Kinsey took the stage to pitch a platform that helped people celebrate their loved ones’ legacies digitally. Richardson was stunned — her idea was so similar to his. But instead of seeing her as competition, the two quickly realized they could collaborate. Today, Kinsey is Tumbleweed’s co-founder and chief product officer.
Since launching, Tumbleweed has participated in the Venture School at the University of Iowa’s John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, received grant funding from the Iowa Economic Development Authority, and was accepted into the Des Moines-based Global Insurance Accelerator.
Ultimately, Richardson has found Iowa to be a great place to build an early-stage tech company.
“Iowa is great at warmth and connection,” he said.
He’s loved it so much, in fact, that he officially moved to the state shortly after the Startup Weekend event.
Richardson encouraged the crowd to reach out if they had personal caregiving experiences they needed help navigating. He also promoted Tumbleweed’s upcoming podcast, “Sandwiched,” launching this fall — a new way to build community and remind people that they’re not alone in the caregiving journey.
Learn more and stay connected to Tumbleweed: https://qrco.de/bew2Rk
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