# Avoca raises more than $125 million to build AI agents for home-services businesses

_Saturday, May 2, 2026 at 4:29 AM EDT · Startups, AI · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![Avoca raises more than $125 million to build AI agents for home-services businesses — Primary](https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image_5d86c8.png?resize=1200,600)

Avoca, a startup whose artificial-intelligence agents handle inbound calls, scheduling and dispatch for home-services businesses, has raised more than $125 million across three funding rounds at a valuation of $1 billion, Fortune has learned.

Founded by engineers Tyson Chen and Apurva Shrivastava, Avoca builds AI systems for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning companies, plumbers, roofers and electricians. The company now serves more than 800 customers. Chen and Shrivastava first met at an MIT poker night and initially targeted restaurants before a Dallas HVAC company called Rescue Air pointed them toward the far larger home-services market. Chen said a missed call at a restaurant might cost $30 or $40, while a missed call at a home-services business could mean losing a $30,000 or $40,000 installation job.

Avoca's three rounds were led by Y Combinator for the seed in 2024, Kleiner Perkins for the Series A, and Meritech and General Catalyst for the Series B. Kleiner Perkins partner Leigh Marie Braswell said Avoca serves as a bridge between Silicon Valley and the Main Street businesses that AI has largely overlooked.

The home-services market is sizable. The HVAC industry alone was worth about $50 billion in 2025, with some estimates projecting it could reach $75 billion by 2032. Despite a wave of startups entering the AI call-center space, Avoca aims to build specifically for workers in the physical economy rather than pursuing enterprise or Fortune 500 contracts.

"Everyone's trying to build for the Fortune 500, but there's this giant, trillion-dollar economy no one is touching," Chen said.

## Sources

- [Fortune](https://fortune.com/2026/04/27/avoca-ai-agents-missed-calls-hvac-plumbing-roofing-kleiner-perkins-chen-shrivastava-braswell/)

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Retrieved: 2026-05-02T11:59:59.277Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)