Birdwatch, which provides home maintenance services in the Washington, D.C. area and Philadelphia, has raised $3.2 million in seed funding led by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Social Leverage.
Other investors included Berger Investments (Wayne, Pa.), Starting Line (Chicago), FJ Labs (New York), and California’s Path VC. So far, the Washington, D.C.-headquartered public benefit corporation has raised $3.5 million from investors.
‘Concierge Services’
“Birdwatch is your concierge home maintenance team that manages everything that you want and need in and around your home,” founder and CEO Chris Rosenbaum said on LinkedIn.
According to Rosenbaum, 68% of homeowners report being stressed or overwhelmed about taking care of their homes.
“Your family’s biggest purchase should not be your biggest pain, so we’re building Birdwatch to give you confidence and control in caring for your home,” said Rosenbaum, who previously founded and ran Voltn, a marketing technology firm. He has also worked at German media giant Bertelsmann.
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Birdwatch was launched in 2022 by the trio of Rosenbaum, entrepreneur and social justice activist Lisa Wise, and former Capital One executive Ryan Troll. Wise runs two other startups — real estate management firm Flockster, and birdSEED, which funds down payments for first-time BIPOC homebuyers. Troll, an engineer, serves as Birdwatch’s chief experience officer, and was previously head of experimentation and director of personalization at Capital One.
‘Anti-Uberization’
With a so-called “PropCare” approach to integrated home services and maintenance, Birdwatch has additionally positioned itself as the anti-Uber. Its founders say the process of Uberization — or outsourcing — has commoditized the “hard work of people in service industries.” In contrast, Birdwatch has sought to focus on quality of work. Its services range from “roof to root,” and include repairs, maintenance, plumbing and HVAC.
“Quality is an afterthought when online marketplaces focus solely on speed and price. Everything is just a transaction. It’s a race to the bottom that benefits no one,” the trio said in a letter on Birdwatch’s website.
