UpKeep, a startup out of Los Angeles that aims to make the jobs of maintenance and operations workers easier, announced Tuesday it closed on a $36 million Series B funding round led by Insight Partners, with participation from existing investors Y Combinator, Emergence Capital, Battery Ventures, FundersClub and Mucker Capital. The company says this financing will be used to innovate its product and hire across all departments.
UpKeep’s mobile-first platform was created to simplify what is ordinarily a pretty cumbersome process, bringing all the moving parts of a maintenance request to one app. If someone in a given facility sees there’s a problem with a piece of equipment, all they have to do is alert their maintenance staff through UpKeep, where managers can then prioritize and assign tasks. Plus, any paperwork, photos and notes can be stored right on the app, so the project is well documented in one space.
CEO and founder Ryan Chan says this capability is even more important in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Maintenance does not simply mean fixing a broken lightbulb or repairing machinery, it also means sanitation, which is definitely top of mind right now.
“We support customers in packaging, warehouses, food production, and we’re seeing all of the news come out about how important it is to keep those facilities sanitized and clean. The people that are maintaining and sanitizing those facilities are exactly our customers,” Chan told Built In. “Right now, as we come out of this pandemic, we’re starting to shine a spotlight on maintenance and sanitation workers. But they’ve always been there. I’m really proud to be in this industry and to support people that are enabling us to come back to work and feel safe stepping inside of a facility.”
UpKeep says it has more than 400,000 users and a variety of customers including large corporations like Siemens and McDonald’s, small businesses, hospitals and even the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Since its 2014 founding, the company has raised more than $48 million and has about 100 employees.
“We’ve got a great product, but a great product alone won’t ever build a successful company. At the core of it, you have to have the group, the team, the people that care deeply about the industry. That won’t settle for anything less than great,” Chan said. “The team that we’ve built has this insane, insane maniacal focus on our customers and a drive to improve every single day.”
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