MYworldfix

After spending nearly four years in sales at ServiceTitan, a tradesperson software company, Mark Hoadley (pictured above) was seeking a change and the potential to start something of his own in a related field. His brother-in-law and now co-founder, Ben Sikma, was engaged in M&A within the waste management space at that time. Sikma noticed the outdated nature of many companies being traded. As they delved deeper, they realized that waste management might be the perfect fit for Hoadley.

Challenges in the Existing Waste Management Software

"Hoadley shared with TechCrunch, 'All the existing software in this space is clunky and old. Sometimes we'd joke about how one reminds us of the Oregon Trail and another of the cell phone Michael Douglas used in 'Wall Street.' They are truly antiquated.' This realization led them to take action and launch Hauler Hero in 2020.The cloud-based software platform offered by Hauler Hero assists waste management companies in various aspects, from route planning and management to billing and a customer portal where clients' underlying customers can request pickups. It also utilizes AI to automate tasks like invoicing and route management, identifying inefficiencies and helping companies save money.Hoadley emphasized that the company decided to build multiple product lines right from the start instead of focusing only on route management or billing software with plans to expand later. He had witnessed ServiceTitan's struggle to expand into recurring services like pest control while he was there. As a result, the company had to acquire an existing player to make it work. He didn't want his own company to face a similar fate.He said, 'We wanted to ensure that we built this the right way from the beginning. Many people advise building an MVP as a wedge into the market, but that didn't seem the right approach. It's more challenging to raise capital and start that way, but now we have a highly efficient machine that our customers love.'

Hauler Hero's Growth and Funding

The company launched its platform in beta in 2022 and made it publicly available in Q1 2024. Since then, it has gained more than 120 residential and commercial waste management customers across 40 states and witnessed a 200% increase in revenue in the past year.Hauler Hero announced that it raised $10 million in seed funding led by I2BF Ventures, with participation from K5 Global and Somersault Ventures, along with executives from companies like Gusto and ServiceTitan and some of its customers.Hoadley stated that the company plans to use the funds to hire more engineers and sales personnel and to continue working on product development. One area of focus is building products for larger enterprise customers who require better integrations with their other related businesses such as transfer stations or waste sorting and storage facilities. They are also looking to enhance their integrated communications offerings like two-way text messaging to gather enough data to eventually build a customer service agent.

Competition in the Waste Management Software Space

Hauler Hero operates in a highly competitive industry with legacy software companies like Capterra, WasteWorks, and cieTrade, among others. There are also other startups vying to solve these problems. For instance, Copenhagen-based WasteHero, an early-stage startup, is raising $6.7 million in venture funding to build software for this industry. New York-based CurbWaste is another startup that has raised $21.2 million in funding.Despite the competition, the waste management market is massive, generating more than $140 billion in revenue in the U.S. alone in 2023. It includes both huge enterprises like Waste Management and G Mello and thousands of smaller privately run waste collection companies. Hauler Hero aims to capture a significant market share.Hoadley expressed, 'It's extremely rewarding. These are people doing backbreaking work and essential work. It's rewarding to provide them with the opportunity to complete their workflows more quickly, generate reports more easily, and ultimately grow faster and have more cash in their pockets to focus on what matters to them.'