Parakeet
Setting the Scene
In the high-stakes construction industry, many mid-market companies remain alarmingly unaware of the pitfalls that could derail their projects and profits.
Risks in the industry may include:
Failure to adhere to regulations, leading to expensive fines, serious injury, and lawsuits.
Financial loss from budget overruns, delayed payments, or fluctuating material costs.
Operational threats, ranging from day-to-day safety hazards to quality issues.
This week’s company provides a platform that automates risk management and business functions to ensure construction companies stay in good standing.
In a Sentence
Parakeet provides companies with an automated risk management platform to ensure comprehensive oversight and enhanced control over their financial and operational risks.
Automated: Parakeet integrates with company workflows and finances to automatically assess various risk factors,.
Risk Management: By leveraging real-time purchase and performance data, Parakeet offers actionable steps that contractors can use to enhance safety and optimize business performance.
Bulleted Version:
- Parakeet acts like the immune system for construction companies, automatically identifying and neutralizing risks before they can escalate into full-blown problems, ensuring the company's health and vitality.
The Basics
- Headquarters: Utah
- Employee Count: 2
- Investors:
Beta Boom, Various Angels
- Funding amount: $800k
- Business model: $10k annual contracts
- Early traction: $200k ARR, 20 customers since launch in January
Due Dilligence
WHAT WE LIKE
Market Opportunity: Parakeet targets the vast risk management market, starting with construction, which has uses cases in areas like design, HR, project management, procurement, and payments.
Precision Risk Insights: Parakeet's platform utilizes real-time data to provide precise risk assessments tailored to each contractor's specific environment, minimizing potential disruptions to businesses while optimizing project efficiency.
Use Cases: As lenders seek to engage with mid-market construction firms and beyond, Parakeet's platform could emerge as a vital tool for assessing a business and risk profiles of potential borrowers.
POTENTIAL RISKS
Slow Market Adoption: Despite a hot start, Parakeet may encounter a slow adoption rate among mid-market construction companies due to the industry’s traditional nature and resistance to new technologies.
Regulatory Compliance: Given the diverse and often changing regulatory landscape of the construction industry, Parakeet must continually update its platform to comply with new regulations.
Potentially Underpriced: Given how quickly Parakeet has scaled its initial customer base, the company may be underpricing its platform, given its substantial value-add.
Founder Profile
Jowanza Joseph, CEO: Previously VP of Engineering at Mastercard and Principal Engineer at Pluralsight.
Comps
Shepherd: Backed by Spark Capital, Intact Ventures, Greenlight Reinsurance, and Y Combinator.
Raken: Backed by Rincon Venture Partners, Spider Capital, and Eniac Ventures.
Why Parakeet
Parakeet has laid the groundwork for success by positioning itself as the essential toolkit for mid-market construction companies looking to manage risk and drive business growth.