Broccoli AI, a San Francisco-based startup based by BITS Pilani alumni AJ Jain and Aditya Ketkar that builds AI brokers for plumbers, electricians and different home-service companies, has raised $52 million throughout its Collection A and Collection B funding rounds.

Khosla Ventures led each rounds, with participation from Y Combinator and Operator Companions. The 2 rounds had been accomplished 9 months aside.

Previous to this, the startup had raised $1.5 million in seed funding after going by Y Combinator. It would now use the funding to speed up hiring and broaden its AI capabilities throughout the client journey.

“We’re brief on plumbers, electricians and HVAC technicians, and those we’ve got spend their nights on paperwork. Software program ought to have solved that way back. With Broccoli, AI does the workplace work, and expert trades employees get again to work solely they will do,” mentioned Samir Kaul, founding common associate at Khosla Ventures.

What Broccoli does

Broccoli’s AI brokers reply buyer calls, e-book appointments, comply with up on estimates, renew service memberships and re-engage previous prospects for home-service contractors.

The startup serves companies throughout sectors reminiscent of HVAC, roofing, photo voltaic, plumbing, pest management, electrical work, storage door restore and residential cleansing. Its platform additionally integrates with software program already utilized by contractors, together with ServiceTitan, Salesforce and Housecall Professional.

Broccoli claims that over 1,500 home-service companies use its platform and that its brokers have dealt with greater than 10 million buyer conversations and booked 2.5 million service and gross sales appointments.

The startup has additionally expanded into roofing, pool care, storage doorways and exterior dwelling enchancment.

Broccoli mentioned its AI does work equal to roughly 30% of a typical contractor’s workplace employees. Jain informed Fortune that the system handles about 80% of duties nicely, whereas the remainder nonetheless wants human judgement. Emergency calls, reminiscent of a flooded basement or a fireplace, could be handed to folks on the contractor’s workplace.

Based on Jain, income has tripled for the reason that Collection A. Headcount has grown from 15 folks a yr in the past to greater than 150.

“It isn’t taking away jobs,” Jain mentioned. “It is making jobs.”

From BITS Pilani to San Francisco

Based by Jain and Ketkar, Broccoli brings collectively two laptop science graduates who met at BITS Pilani in 2016 and have been constructing corporations collectively since 2017.

Jain started his profession at Adobe, whereas Ketkar, who serves as Broccoli’s CTO, beforehand labored as a software program engineer at Microsoft and as a researcher on the Pc Imaginative and prescient Middle at UAB Barcelona.

Their earlier ventures included a supply app for closed school campuses, an interview preparation boot camp and Telematica, a Y Combinator-backed startup constructing a common API for electrical automobiles, which took them to London.

After these companies did not scale, the pair arrived in San Francisco in January 2024. As a substitute of constructing one other product right away, they spent the spring of 2024 visiting round 140 contractors’ workplaces throughout Northern California to know their on a regular basis issues.

“Individuals weren’t treating us like salesmen,” Jain informed the publication. “Curious children was, like, our persona.”