Spruce Leverages $8M Series A to Accelerate Market Expansion

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Spruce, the leading provider of lifestyle services to the multifamily industry, announced $8 million in Series A financing.

The round is led by Houston-based Mercury Fund and included participation from Sweat Equity Partners. Since Spruce's last round of equity funding in July 2019, the company has expanded into 9 markets and has over 760 properties with 230,000 units on its platform.

"Spruce is changing how people live in their homes," said founder and CEO Ben Johnson. "Today's apartment community is a vibrant micro-economy for services and goods, and Spruce efficiently channels these interactions into a single marketplace. This Series A will expand our offerings to more residents and properties as well as continue our national roll-out."

As part of the funding round, Spruce added Steven Pho, a seasoned marketplace executive with successful exits at Favor and RetailMeNot, to the board of directors. Pho expressed his enthusiasm in joining the team, saying "Spruce has an amazing opportunity to quickly and cost effectively reach a mass market through their partnerships with national property managers. This unique channel strategy differentiates Spruce from their competitors and enables them to rapidly achieve scale and density in new markets."

Andrew White, President of Sweat Equity Partners, will also join the board of directors. In his career, White has started and exited several businesses, ranging from fintech to industrial services. "Spruce is building a valuable platform focused on delivering outstanding home services under the unique requirements of the multi-family segment," said White.

Earlier this year, Spruce announced a full line of sanitization and disinfection services for partner properties. These services relieved onsite property teams of the burden of disinfecting common areas such as leasing offices, amenity spaces, and high-travel access areas like hallways, elevators, mail and package rooms.

"Spruce has perfected their market model and built a best-in-class team. Their resilience and growth during this unprecedented time have impressed us, and we are excited to continue on this journey with them," said Blair Garrou, managing director at Mercury Fund.

Spruce is the managed services layer that orchestrates the hundreds of service interactions that take place every day in apartment communities. Residents can access a wide array of services, such as housekeeping, chores, pet care, laundry and dry cleaning, through the Spruce app. Property managers benefit from greater resident engagement and improved workflows. And the local businesses that work with Spruce benefit from the economies of scale provided by large communities.

According to an internal analysis, residents who use at least two lifestyle-inspired services have a lease renewal rate of 81 percent. The renewal rate for residents who purchase more than 10 services jumps to nearly 90 percent. This leads to an average 68 percent renewal rate at Spruce-powered properties, which is well above the industry average of just 52 percent.

Spruce is directly involved in the logistics and operations of its local service partner companies, who use Spruce's proprietary workflow management system to scale their businesses. All service professionals who represent the brand undergo background checks, meet insurance requirements, complete comprehensive training, demonstrate scheduling processes, and meet high quality-control standards. By serving high-density multifamily communities, Spruce's service provider partners are able to reduce their average job cost by more than 50 percent.

About Spruce
At Spruce, our mission is to build relationships and technology that empower local businesses to serve residents. As the leading provider of lifestyle services to the multifamily industry, Spruce offers Housekeeping, Chores, Pet Care, Laundry and Dry Cleaning services to more than 750 apartment communities across the US. Through the intuitive Spruce app, residents can easily book services from certified, insured and background-checked professionals. Spruce is focused on delivering the highest-quality services to residents on-demand. Venture-backed and headquartered in Austin, the company has more than 40 employees and is growing rapidly.

About Mercury Fund
Mercury Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on software entrepreneurs and innovation originating in the middle of the U.S. With over $300 million under management, Mercury targets SaaS, Cloud, Marketplace and Data platforms that make the markets and industries of Middle America more competitive and efficient. Mercury's venture investment strategy leverages the firm's network of midcontinent startup development organizations, corporate innovation partners, and co-investors to assist entrepreneurs with the resources they need to rapidly scale their businesses.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Caroline Smalley
pr@getspruce.com

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SOURCE Spruce