By Anna Lardinois, Startup Storyteller
RoofMarketplace recently made headlines for completing a $5 million Series A funding round. Based in Whitewater, the revenue-generating startup is no stranger to successful funding rounds. It raised a $1.1 million seed funding round in 2021. The next challenge the company plans to tackle is scaled growth.
Company co-founders William Bazeley, CEO, and David Kish, Senior Vice President of Quality Assurance, grew up together in Canada. The men both worked in the property insurance market when they developed the concept behind RoofMarketplace. They observed that “carriers overpay by millions on roofing claims,” and they created a service that would save insurance carriers money while supporting local contractors and providing homeowners with high quality repairs. The pair were later joined by a third co-founder, Tim Russell, who serves as the company’s Chief Technology Officer.
The company works with Washington-based EagleView Technologies to receive aerial imagery of properties that an insurance carrier has determined needs repair. The images include detailed measurements of the roof. RoofMarketplace pairs the image with key details that pertain to the job and sends the job out to vetted and approved roofers in the region. Roofers bid on the job and can be awarded with the job in as little as five minutes.
Initially, roofers were reluctant to bid on jobs without having a salesperson make an onsite visit to the property. The pandemic accelerated the acceptance of this new technology. Bazeley has observed that people have become more receptive to embracing new technology and conducting business remotely.
The company partners with local roofers who will be there after the job is completed to handle warranty issues and service the property. Bazeley believes that RoofMarketplace allows local roofers to be a part of insurance-related work and eliminates the gamification embraced by “predatory storm-chasers”.
“RoofMarketplace is not focused on a race to the bottom,” he said. “But it (roof repairs) shouldn’t be a higher price because an insurance company is involved with funding the job.”
He describes the ideal roofing business to work with his company as a local company that consistently earns between $1-5 million in annual revenue.
It wasn’t only roofers that were hesitant to adopt a new way of working. He sees the insurance industry as one that is reluctant to change. Bazeley has found moving carriers beyond the traditional methods for roof replacement has been both the most rewarding and challenging part of introducing RoofMarketplace to the property services market.
With an ever-growing list of clients and vetted roofers, the company is focused on growth. Since its launch in 2017 the company has been on an upward trajectory, steadily adding staff as the technology gains popularity. Bazeley acknowledges talented employees that helped make their headline-making investment round possible.
“I am proud of the team. 24 people worked hard to bring it to fruition,” he said.
An area of anticipated growth is the company’s expansion into the Wisconsin market. The company currently serves customers in the Carolinas, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas. Bazeley anticipates that RoofMarketplace services will be available in Wisconsin “ahead of the hail season” in 2023.
The company is eager to strengthen its Milwaukee roots. The company is expanding their Ward4 offices and is looking for opportunities to become “more a part of the Milwaukee tech scene,” said Bazeley.
To connect with this growth-focused startup, find them here.