Chapter One raises $4 million to provide AI to local home service providers. “We take care of everything else,” you say. This is the promise of Chapter One, a New York startup whose pre-seed raised $4 million to incorporate AI into the painting, remodeling, HVAC, and plumbing industries. For local home service businesses, the company handles marketing, payments, scheduling, and customer communication so that owners can concentrate on what they do best. “Our vision is to transform fragmented local services into a connected, technology-enabled ecosystem,” stated Chapter One CEO Alex Frost. “You do the in-person part, we do everything else. A new operating model that allows service providers to grow at the same rate as large corporations without losing their independence will soon be available to them. The platform positions itself as a way for local operators to access home service growth enterprise-level tools without the complexity or cost of building them independently.
More than 100 plumbing, HVAC, painting, and remodeling businesses in major cities nationwide already use the platform’s AI-driven workflows and business support spanning bookkeeping, cold calling, cold emailing, ad management, and web presence.
Charlie Logan has firsthand experience with the issue. After running his own pest control company, he joined Chapter One as a customer before joining the team. “I know how hard it is to keep up with everything,” Logan said. This is the reason I joined the team. Now I meet with operators every day and see how much time and stress they save by letting Chapter One handle the business and lead side and essentially derisk entrepreneurship at scale.”
Trisha Jha sees the larger change from an operational perspective. She stated, “We are creating the infrastructure layer for small businesses.” “We give local entrepreneurs the ability to grow like franchise or enterprise companies from day one while maintaining full control of their business,” the company declares. Some of the uses for the new funding include strengthening integrations with tools like QuickBooks and Stripe, establishing a nationwide customer support network, and expanding Chapter One’s AI and lead capabilities. Frost put it succinctly: “When someone hires a roofer, painter, or electrician, the owner should be free to concentrate on providing excellent service.” The company’s mission was to accomplish this. Chapter One ensures the business behind it scales flawlessly.”