We take care of everything else,” you say. This is the promise of Chapter One, a New York startup whose pre-seed raised $4 million to incorporate AI into the painting, remodeling, HVAC, and plumbing industries. For local home service businesses, the company handles marketing, payments, scheduling, and customer communication so that owners can concentrate on what they do best. Chapter One CEO Alex Frost stated, “Our vision is to transform fragmented local services into a connected, technology-enabled ecosystem.” “You do the in-person part, we do everything else. We’re unlocking a new operating model where service providers can scale like national companies without losing their independence.” 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 leads 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 experience with the issue. He joined Chapter One as a customer prior to joining the team after operating his own pest control business. Logan stated, “I know how hard it is to keep up with everything.” “That’s why 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.”
Trisha Jha sees the larger change from an operational perspective. She stated, “We are creating the infrastructure layer for small businesses.” The company declares, “By embedding AI into every workflow, we give local entrepreneurs the ability to grow like franchise or enterprise companies from day one while maintaining full control of their business.” Expanding Chapter One’s AI and lead capabilities, establishing a nationwide customer support network, and strengthening integrations with tools like QuickBooks and Stripe are some of the uses for the new funding. The company’s mission was summed up succinctly by Frost: “When someone hires a roofer, painter, or electrician, that owner should be free to concentrate on providing excellent service.” Chapter One ensures the business behind it scales flawlessly.”