What the business is
Raleigh home maintenance management service with a monthly membership, a home manager and on-demand handymen
The bet
Many Triangle homeowners would rather have someone else manage maintenance, using a membership that pairs a home manager with scheduled and on-demand services
Starting capital
$1.9 million from investors in 2022, plus the founder's own money
How it started
Matt Sheehan, a former RedBox and Primo Water executive, started Exhale during the pandemic after a hedge fund took over Primo, forced him out as CEO and moved it to Raleigh from Winston-Salem. The idea dated back over a decade, to when he worried about fixing a leaky faucet during his workday.
What happened
Exhale charges a $199 monthly membership giving access to a home manager who finds service providers and on-demand handymen, and designs a custom maintenance schedule such as landscaping, duct cleaning or housekeeping, billed on top. For emergencies a manager finds a provider and gives an estimate before the work. It served Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Holly Springs and Apex, and had signed up 65 homes, with growth picking up recently.
What has to be true
Home repairs strike at random and interrupt a homeowner's workday
A flat monthly fee for a manager creates predictable revenue
Custom maintenance schedules add recurring services on top of the membership
The Triangle serves as a testing ground before expansion to other markets
What can be applied
A service membership can start in a local launchpad market, but with 65 homes and no profit the question is whether it earns enough to expand, as the founder himself acknowledged.
Aftermath
As of 2023-10-27, Exhale had 65 homes, $1.9M raised, no profit yet, and planned to expand beyond the Triangle once it could attract more investors.
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