Bluon, Inc. a rapidly growing company in the HVAC-R space, with a wildly popular support app for HVAC technicians, today announced the closing of its Series B round with $27.6 million in equity financing. This adds to its recently completed $9 million in venture debt. The new capital will be primarily used in developing Bluon’s e-commerce platform (BluonLive) and in particular for software development and rapid growth in its sales teams and technician support teams.
The round was led by Bluon’s existing primary capital partner, Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF), and included significant participation from MacKinnon, Bennett & Company (MKB), a Canadian growth equity firm investing in innovative companies shaping the future of energy and transportation sectors.
Notably, the round also included participation from two significant HVAC industry players – Ferguson and Reece through their venture arms – Ferguson Ventures and Superseed Ventures, respectively. The participation from Ferguson and Reece clearly shows their support for Bluon’s vision to transform its super sticky support platform into the first brand-agnostic, demand-focused e-commerce platform serving the HVAC-R industry.
Bluon’s support platform – which continues to capture the attention of the booming HVAC-R industry – is a revolutionary mobile app that makes HVAC technicians in the field notably more productive, more efficient, and more capable. By making technicians more productive, Bluon is solving the biggest challenge facing the HVAC-R industry – the skilled labor shortage. Ultimately, Bluon enables contractors to complete more jobs each and every day, thus creating more revenue for HVAC-R distributors and OEMs industry wide.
“This is a seminal moment for Bluon. With the caliber and type of investors participating and our ever-growing list of commercial partners, it is clear the HVAC-R industry can see the power and potential of Bluon’s demand-based support platform and our imminent evolution into the first true brand-agnostic, e-commerce platform in all of HVAC-R,” said Peter Capuciati, chairman and CEO at Bluon.
“Every investment we make is focused on helping our customers succeed in today’s ever-changing marketplace,” said Blake Luse, Managing Director at Ferguson Ventures. “HVAC technicians serve a critical role in how we heat, cool, and clean the air in our homes. Properly maintained equipment is critical to our health and the environment. Bluon has proven they not only add value to the technician, but techs love using the mobile app platform. The Bluon story continues to capture the attention of the industry – and for very good reason.”
The Bluon app and support platform is the first mobile app to become self-adopted at scale by HVAC-R technicians – with nearly 30% of the US market registered as members and 2% of the market joining each month. In addition to being self-adopted, the platform is brand agnostic – allowing its member technicians to have a single source of support for virtually all of their jobs – making it truly unique within the HVAC-R space.
With its recent strategic acquisition of XREF Publishing Company, nearly one-third of all HVAC-R techs in the U.S. on its support platform, and an e-commerce strategy committed to enhancing and expanding local relationships between technicians and their local distributors, Bluon has rapidly emerged as the clear leader in the race to become the dominant, brand-agnostic e-commerce platform for the $70B HVAC-R industry.
About Bluon
Bluon recognizes that HVAC-R techs are the heart and soul of the industry and the ultimate drivers of its efficiency and innovation. Bluon’s support platform is a revolutionary mobile app that offers tools, training and 24/7 tech support to HVAC-R technicians in the field. Bluon is the first mobile app platform to aggregate detailed technical information on more than 45,000 unique HVAC models, further providing technicians with the information they need to be effective and proficient on the job. With more than 175,000 downloads, 88,000 onboarded member technicians (growing by 6,000 each month) and hundreds of distributors already in the Bluon network, it has become the largest and fastest-growing support platform and community in HVAC-R. Fueled by the feedback from its members, Bluon is set to revolutionize the way in which technicians and their local distributors interact, enabling both parties to do more with less. For more information about Bluon, visit www.bluon.com.
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