When homeowners or investors need to renovate their homes, it can be stressful to keep up with contractors’ progress and their overall budget. For contractors, there’s always the chance that clients fail to pay for services rendered. Leveled Pro wants to provide more transparency for both parties.
Launched in 2019, Leveled Pro, a construction project management and payments app, allows both contractors and homeowners to track the progress of a construction project and lets property owners pay contractors. Tiffany Griffin and Marvin LaBranche, co-founders of the platform who have 20 years of experience in construction, recently joined 1871’s WiSTEM cohort of female-led startups.
“We’ve been exposed to great mentors and investors,” Griffin said about the WiSTEM program. “So far, it’s been a very big focus on strengthening us as individuals, so we can pivot the company if needed [and] we can grow the company if needed.”
For now, the company is focused on homeowners and the contractors who serve them, but it may shift its operations to suit commercial construction projects in the future, Griffin said, adding that the company has also received inquiries from property managers with several hundred properties in their portfolio.
With the app, users can document a project’s progress, verify if the homeowner or investor has funds and pay for services on a mutually agreed upon schedule, Griffin said. Usually, the client deposits a portion of the funds up front, then continues to pay as the contractors meet project milestones and eventually complete the work, she said.
The goal of the app is to provide both property owners and contractors with transparency, LaBranche said. The platform doesn’t match property owners with verified contractors like other platforms such as Angie's List or Home Advisor, but it keeps both parties informed of how the project is going and confirms the that property owner has the funds to pay for services rendered.
“Our focus is heavily on transparency, because we know there's a lot of software out there for contractors that they can use, but we wanted to give homeowners something they can access, too,” Griffin said.
