Avoca

How do you reinvent a 70-year-old family business without losing what made it great? That's exactly what Jon Ryan has spent the last few decades figuring out at Genz-Ryan. A new episode of Trade Secrets: From the Ground Up is live. It's one of the most honest conversations we've had about legacy, grit, and knowing when to let go. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

In late April, home services-focused AI company Avoca announced that it has raised over $125 million in funding since its 2022 inception, most recently clinching a $1 billion valuation. While the milestone is notable, it also reflects the broader — and growing — adoption of AI among home service contractors nationwide, despite the industry’s reputation for being slower to embrace new technologies. Following the announcement, Homepros chatted via email with Avoca co-founders Tyson Chen and Apurva Shrivastava about deploying the company’s latest capital, AI’s impact on the CSR role, the technology’s trust dilemma, and more. What they’re saying: “[M]ost homeowners don’t start by asking whether it’s AI. They care whether the call gets answered, whether the person or system on the line knows what they’re talking about, and whether they get scheduled. If those things happen, the AI part matters less. If they don’t, people blame the AI quickly and fairly.” Full story: https://lnkd.in/etH4F2PX

Driving checks to the office? Jon Ryan has truly seen it all as an operator. Avoca co-founder Tyson Chen sits down with Jon, president of Genz-Ryan, to discuss the pivots, the mistakes, and operational changes in the last three decades. Tune in Thursday for a new episode of Trade Secrets: From the Ground Up! 🚀 Link to Episode 1 in comments. ⭐️

He's marched in the Pasadena Rose Parade 🌹. Twice, as a tuba player. We're thrilled to welcome Reymundo C. to Avoca! Reymundo grew up in LA 🌴 , studied CS at MIT, and spent his college summers interning at Google, Pinterest, and Twitch before deciding big tech wasn't really his thing. Since graduating he's been all-in on startups: GifYourGame, then Skio, and now Avoca. His path here started with his college friend Juan, who was so visibly excited about the company that Reymundo couldn't not interview. After getting in the room with the engineering team, that was it. What draws him most to this role is the chance to work on AI that actually augments real, tangible businesses. He describes our culture as Ownership, Openness, and Outperforming (yes, he tried very hard to make that spell OOO). We'll take it. Reymundo has been making music almost as long as he can remember: clarinet at 11, cello at 12, piano at 13 🎹 . These days he plays piano, guitar, and drums, and has been composing original music since his early teens. He also has four cats, which honestly sealed the deal on culture fit before we even made the offer. Welcome, Reymundo! 👐

Granite Comfort LP came to Avoca in 2025 with a clear vision: build an operating model that could take on new brands with a single playbook. A growing portfolio meant growing complexity: 9 brand contact centers. 9 after-hours vendors. 9 sets of workflows. Every acquisition meant doing it all over again. They teamed up with Avoca to build a single foundation. 1 centralized contact center, 1 source of truth, redesigned roles, 24/7 coverage. The team at Granite, Alison Albrecht, Verna Brown, PMP, and Samuel Akinyooye put in the work most operators won't. Instead of bolting AI onto a legacy operation, they reimagined the call center with AI at the center. And the growth shows it. Watch the enterprise transformation:

Big congratulations to Avoca !! We’re grateful for a partnership that keeps pushing our customer experience to the next level! #avoca #hvac #plumbing #electrical #generators #Texashillcountry Thanks for the gift!