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Dan Laufer imprecate off ever found a inauguration again after he sold flat renting platform RentLingo in 2021 , but Laufer also could n’t ignore the potential to solve a problem he saw extend as the capitulum of growth and mathematical product selling at Nextdoor .
“ The top enjoyment of Nextdoor is people face for provider , HVAC specially , ” Laufer enjoin TechCrunch . “ There were these gaps on the consumer side , the satisfaction with the experience , it did n’t experience modern . The other freehanded trend I saw was the silver tsunami . All these baby boomers who own these and do n’t necessarily have an release plan . ”
The result wasPipeDreams , a startup that acquires mamma and pop HVAC and plumbing company and scale them using its software that helps with programming and selling . PipeDreams allows business possessor to retire , if they desire , without lose their employees , name or brand , or just be part of a enceinte company with more imagination , Laufer told TechCrunch .
PipeDreams just raised a $ 25.5 million Series A , led by Canvas Ventures and Plural with additional funds from Tony Xu , the father of DoorDash , and Thomas Layton , the former chief executive officer of OpenTable . PipeDreams has buy nine ship’s company so far and presently operates in the San Francisco Bay Area , Tucson and Denver , with programme to amplify .
“ The dish of this industry is it ’s massive , there are over 100,000 business doing plumbery and HVAC , ” Laufer said about the U.S. market . “ We intend to keep their brand . A mint of these hoi polloi have their name on the hand truck , it ’s very personal . ”
PipeDreams ’ strategy is a twisting on the private equity roll - up model , where PE firms buy pocket-sized companies in a niche ( secret schools , dental , healthcare ) and unite them into a larger business , intent on sell the larger caller off to scoop lucre for investors .
PipeDreams also habituate debt to produce the occupation instantly but is n’t tied to the form of tight lifecycle timeline to produce return or exit like the four - six year expected in PE . The company has a $ 15 million debt facility available , used to buy businesses , and will use the equity it raised to improve its software . Laufer say he imagines succeeding rounds will involve kindle more debt than fairness .
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Roll - up strategies are n’t common for venture - backed startup , with the closest comparison being Amazon collector startups like Perch and Thrasio , which have shinny financially as of late . But unlike these aggregator , the underlying businesses PipeDreams buys are n’t at the mercy of a companionship like Amazon that can change the rules as it pleases , and the ship’s company PipeDreams buys have stronger relationship with its client than Amazon brand .
That said , PipeDreams could go through some of the same ontogenesis hurdles Amazon aggregators face , like if a newer entrant grabs more line of work or if a local plumber beefs up its SEO or digital marketing strategy .
Laufer order have the HVAC company outright is what secernate PipeDreams from other competitors looking to just colligate consumers with professionals , like Angie and Thumbtack . He suppose that the marketplace exemplar , like many of its competitors , is n’t sticky as consumers can just seek out professionals directly after find them through a marketplace . With PipeDreams , since they broil their tech into each provider ’s website , they are part of the process any meter someone books with that professional .
PipeDreams is also come up to the skills shortage in the HVAC and plumbing industries , as Gen zed isless interested in learning tradesthan genesis before them . The company launched an prentice plan in Q4 to set aside people to get train on the line of work . It ’s had five students so far with plan to inflate .
While the company has a farsighted route to go to flesh out its HVAC - center business , Laufer anticipates they ’ll expand into other categories let in electricians down the route too .
“ We buy [ a company ] a couple of workweek ago and the owner had a celebratory dinner , he discover it as , ‘ my business is off to college , ’ ” Laufer said . “ ‘ I acquire it up and it ’s off to its next chapter . ’ I do it that description . That ’s how we do it . ”
