Setter

Setter was a digital home management platform founded in Toronto in 2016 by David Steckel and Guillaume Laliberté. Steckel, leveraging his decade of experience as a general contractor, identified a need to bring the principles of commercial facilities maintenance to the residential market. The company aimed to simplify homeownership by acting as a centralized hub for all home maintenance and repair needs.

The business operated on a model that connected homeowners with a personal Home Manager through a mobile application. Clients could use the app to chat with home experts, send photos of issues, receive quotes, and book a wide range of services, including plumbing, electrical work, roofing, and cleaning. The platform's core offering also included a virtual home checkup and a personalized maintenance plan to proactively address potential problems and prevent costly emergencies. This service was designed to give homeowners a clear plan and budget for ongoing upkeep. In May 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Setter pivoted its business model to focus on software, sunsetting its managed services and mobile apps to concentrate on a new digital homeowner experience, including the Virtual Home Checkup and a HomeHub platform.

Setter successfully raised a total of $20 million USD in capital. This included a significant $10 million Series A round in 2018, co-led by prominent venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and NFX. In December 2020, the company was acquired by Thumbtack, a leading local services marketplace, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition enabled Thumbtack to integrate Setter's technology and expertise to launch a personalized home maintenance service for its users across the United States.

Keywords: home maintenance, property technology, proptech, home repair services, home management, virtual home checkup, home services marketplace, facilities maintenance, residential property services, home care plan, Thumbtack acquisition, David Steckel, Guillaume Laliberté, Sequoia Capital, NFX