Craftwork, a technology-centric painting company based in Charlotte, has closed on a $6 million seed round that will help fuel its growth.
The funding round, announced Nov. 17, was led by San Francisco-based Forerunner Ventures with help from acclaimed Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator; General Catalyst; Jeff Jordon, managing partner at A16z; and Evan Moore, co-founder of DoorDash.
Tim Griffin, CEO and co-founder of Craftwork, said the funds will be used to recruit more employees in roles including engineers and designers. It currently has 15 team members and 30 painters. Instead of paying painters by the project, the company offers them weekly and hourly pay even when a project isn't assigned. Employees also receive health insurance, career growth opportunities and a stake in the startup.
In addition, Craftwork plans to use the capital to expand into Nashville and Atlanta next year.
"Our plan is to continue to own and operate what we would consider tier-one markets that we feel we can help to establish a brand and a presence that sort of permeates the quality that we deliver," he told CBJ.
Craftwork was launched in March as a full-service home painting company that uses tech to streamline the process. Through the startup's website, users can receive an instant free quote, book a project and have the job executed quickly. The minimum spend to hire the company is $750.
Craftwork has grown its revenue between 50% and 100% month over month since it launched to the public eight months ago. And earlier this year, the company closed on a $4 million pre-seed round with backing from Y Combinator. Craftwork is among only a few companies in Charlotte that have been a part of the program.
"What's been really important for us is managing growth in a healthy manner," he said.
Once the startup establishes a presence in Charlotte, Nashville and Atlanta, Griffin said it's looking to franchise the Craftwork experience. That would include working with partners in smaller cities who own and operate a painting business and are interested in starting a new one with the startup's brand. Craftwork would help franchisees succeed by helping them recruit painters, attract customers and provide tech stacks, or sets of technologies used to develop and run a website or application.
"That tech stack is a huge differentiator for us in the franchise space," he said.
Looking ahead, Craftwork hopes to build a national brand for residential construction, one comparable to the scale of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).
"I often tell folks as an example that if you roll up to any intersection, you're likely to see two, three or four Amazon trucks at any given moment, and there is a future where you'll see the same number of Craftwork trucks," Griffin said.
