Vancouver construction labor startup ToolBelt has tapped an industry vet as chief operating officer as it expands nationwide.
Mark Raines is joining ToolBelt as COO. He was most recently assistant vice president at aerial imagery firm EagleView, where he helped run part of that company’s construction segment. EagleView provides aerial roof and wall measurements for different industries.
It’s this experience working in construction technology and bringing products to market that make Raines a valuable hire, said ToolBelt co-founder and CEO Josh Engelbrecht.
“After a lengthy national search we are fortunate to have someone of Mark’s caliber to drive our business to the next level,” Engelbrecht said.
ToolBelt makes a construction employment app to connect general contractors and homebuilders to subcontractors and tradespeople. A project is posted and then job seekers can search for projects in need of their expertise.
“I am honored and excited to help bring the ToolBelt platform to a national level,” said Raines in a written statement. “I am looking forward to helping contractors of all trades connect with the right installers to complete high-quality work."
The ToolBelt marketplace has been live in Southern California, Oregon and Washington. This year, $70 million in projects have been connected through the app, Engelbrecht said, adding that adoption and retention have been strong.
The company is generating revenue but is not yet profitable. However, Engelbrecht said there is a clear path to profitability.
To build the company he has taken a page from the playbook of other two-sided marketplaces like Airbnb or Uber and opted to focus on key markets and gaining market penetration before moving on to the next market.
Last year, the company raised $2.5 million from investors to help expand from Oregon and Washington and into Southern California. That has been successful and now the company is moving into Northern California, including Sacramento and San Jose.
“We have product-market-fit and established a revenue model we feel comfortable with to take (ToolBelt) nationwide,” Engelbrecht said.
After Northern California, he plans to take the product into Phoenix and then into other top 25 metros in the U.S. next year.
“We like to go in markets with density and construction and remodeling happening,” he said.
The startup caters to new construction, multifamily and home remodeling. It has also started to dip into small commercial projects with tenant improvement work. Despite a shifting housing market and rising interest rates, Engelbrecht said the company has had record months in usage and demand for labor for the past two quarters.
“As far as consumer spending (goes) people are still investing in their largest asset: their house,” he said, adding that different areas of the company are affected in different ways.
The team is focused on this expansion, but Engelbrecht is raising another investment round. He said local investors that have already backed the company are interested in participating and he has interest from new investors, especially in the proptech (property technology) space.
“Our (key performance indicators), especially revenue growth and the marketplace metrics resonate with investors,” he said.
ToolBelt has a team of a dozen full time. It's also still working with a development crew in Ukraine that it brought on earlier this year.
