Eighteen months after its inception and Raleigh operations management startup Chekhub has closed on its second acquisition.
Chekhub announced Monday that it has acquired Horizonline Technologies, a Florida firm specializing in mission-critical facility operations.
In an interview, Chekhub CEO Jon Trout said Horizonline's technology would become a vital component of Chekhub's platform.
Chekhub has developed an operational management platform focused on technical trades, “to empower those front-line workers to work more effectively,” Trout said. The firm provides technical-services companies, such as data center operators, with a tool where they can both dispatch workers and put “digital checklists” in the hands of service personnel.
An introduction within the industry led Chekhub to Horizonline, Trout said. Horizonline, whose CEO Darryl Rouse is joining Chekhub’s executive team with the deal, focuses on computerized maintenance management.
Chekhub has 16 employees, half of which are in Raleigh. Trout said the plan is to add two more.
“We have office space in downtown Raleigh and we’re hoping to hire more and more people fairly quickly,” Trout said.
He declined to give the firm’s revenue, but did say it was less than $10 million and that subscriptions are growing. The firm already has contracts with Fortune 100 companies, he said. It currently has 2,500 active users on its platform, with customers in Asia, Europe and the U.S. And it’s in the process of fundraising. Its current backers include private equity firm Harbright Ventures.
Trout, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, moved to Raleigh from California three years ago “for the purpose of starting another company.” He became familiar with the area during his last startup, BitBox, which worked with Google Fiber on Triangle deployments.
“I fell in love with Raleigh,” he said.
On March 1, “two weeks before the Covid lockdown,” he started Chekhub.