Chapter One raises $4 million to provide AI to local home service providers. “We take care of everything else,” you say. Chapter One, a New York startup whose pre-seed raised $4 million to incorporate AI into the plumbing, HVAC, painting, and remodeling industries, promises this. The company takes care of scheduling, marketing, payments, and customer communication for local home service businesses, allowing owners to 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. “We do everything else, you do the in-person part. 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 enterprise-level tools without the complexity or cost of building them independently.
More than 100 plumbing, HVAC, painting, and home service 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 knowledge of the problem. He joined Chapter One as a customer prior to joining the team after operating his own pest control business. “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.”
From an operational standpoint, Trisha Jha sees the larger change. She stated, “We are creating the infrastructure layer for small businesses.” According to the declaration made by the company, “We give local entrepreneurs the ability to grow like franchise or enterprise companies from day one while maintaining full control of their business.” 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: “The owner should be free to concentrate on providing excellent service when someone hires a roofer, painter, or electrician.” The objective of the company’s mission was this. Chapter One ensures the business behind it scales flawlessly.”