CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mezo, provider of an Intelligent Intake™ platform for property maintenance, today announced a $6 million seed investment co-led by Chicago Ventures and Building Ventures, with participation from The 81 Collection and notable angels. Founded to make one-trip resolution possible for all home maintenance needs, Mezo gives property operators unprecedented transparency into their maintenance operations by empowering residents to clearly articulate their issues and enabling technicians to arrive prepared. This transparency not only improves the resident experience, but makes employees more efficient, unlocks the ability to centralize operations, and gives greater spend control.
An estimated $182 billion is spent every year on home maintenance and emergency repair. However, hundreds of millions of dollars are wasted as residents are unable to effectively communicate their issues to technicians and work orders lack required details to inform the appropriate skills, parts and time needed to resolve an issue in one trip. Mezo’s Intelligent Intake™ platform fixes home maintenance from the start. Delivered through its virtual maintenance tool “Max”, the technology applies AI-driven efficiency with trade expert knowledge to drive best-in-class maintenance intake, diagnosis, scheduling, and fulfillment recommendations for property operators.
How Mezo’s Max Works
- Identify: Residents tell Max their problem, answer clarifying questions, and send photos or videos so Mezo can guide property operators to dispatch the right technician with the right parts and tools to fix the issue on the first visit. Max is also able to help residents troubleshoot simple issues on their own avoiding unnecessary technician trips.
- Diagnose: Max’s technology was built by trade experts, and enables teams to streamline high-quality fixes, decide whether the job requires a specialized skill set, and automatically prioritize emergencies.
- Deliver: After resolution, property operators receive insights that fuel timely resident follow-ups, optimal field strategies, and expectations for future preventative maintenance to protect the property's integrity.
Mezo’s technology currently serves more than 70,000 residents of Single Family Rental (SFR), Multi-Family Rental and Student Housing properties owned and operated by customers including: Mynd Management, Tricap Residential, WFI Investments, Darwin Homes, and others. Today, Mezo integrates with real estate platforms such as Entrata and Source7 and continues to expand partnerships with others.
“Despite being the largest controllable cost center for rental property owners, residential maintenance remains a black box,” said co-founder and CEO Mike Travalini. “Renters often struggle to accurately articulate what is wrong, like identifying a ‘broken toilet’, when a technician needs more information to assess with certainty that it is actually a ‘bad flapper valve.’ This subtle difference wastes resources in the form of unprepared workers who show up lacking the parts needed to make the fix, requiring additional time and cost. Mezo makes one trip resolution possible for all home maintenance needs.”
Mezo’s early partners have dramatically improved maintenance operations. To date, the platform’s momentum includes:
- 25,000+ work orders processed
- 99% intake accuracy
- 30% reduction in time to dispatch a technician
- 25% reduction, on average, in overall resolution time
Mezo’s launch comes at a time when rising interest rates drive more renters into the housing market, technician shortages and an aging maintenance professional population isn’t being replenished. As a result, leading property operators across single-family, multi-family, and student housing environments are strategizing how to centralize their most vital resources. To do so, operators are seeking technology solutions to find greater efficiencies and cost savings while delivering satisfying resident experiences.
“In today’s economic climate, there’s a heightened urgency to cut costs while maintaining a positive experience,” said Heather Widman, partner at Building Ventures and a member of Mezo’s board of directors. “Mezo can save residential real estate owners valuable time and money by introducing the visibility and responsiveness currently lacking from property maintenance operations.”
Mezo was co-founded in 2020 by CEO Mike Travalini, a former executive at early SFR market leader Waypoint Homes (now known as: Invitation Homes), CGO John Botica, a former management consultant who led digital innovation & transformations across established industries, and CTO Erin Karam, who was previously CTO at a healthcare startup where she led applied AI initiatives. The founding team of ex-operators, trade experts, and technologists has experience spanning consulting (Bain & Company and McKinsey & Company), technology companies such as IBM, Jellyvision, and Relativity as well as real estate industry brands Buildium (acquired by Real Page) and Waypoint Homes.
As Mezo continues to onboard new users, it is actively recruiting forward-thinking property managers and owners who are aiming to gain more control of their maintenance operations. Reach out to learn more: https://www.mezo.io/contact. The company also plans to increase its workforce across product and platform functions.
About Mezo
Founded in 2020, Mezo is the only property maintenance platform that starts with Intelligent Intake™ to ensure residents feel empowered, technicians arrive prepared, and property owners have unprecedented transparency into their maintenance operations and spend. Headquartered in Chicago, the company has offices in Boston and Austin and is the recipient of IMN’s 2022 SFR West Landlord/Owner Technology of the Year. Mezo is backed by Chicago Ventures, Building Ventures, and 81 Collection. For more information, visit: https://mezo.io/ and follow us on Linkedin. Reach out to join our team at talent@mezo.io
