Industrial area service firms in sectors like HVAC, electrical, and plumbing face vital operational challenges with handbook knowledge entry, gradual fee cycles, and inefficient back-office processes that drain assets and affect money circulate. Regardless of being important infrastructure that retains America working, these companies typically wrestle with outdated methods and excessive Days Gross sales Excellent (DSO) whereas juggling growing service calls for. Mura addresses these ache factors with its AI-powered “darkish software program” platform that seamlessly integrates with current area service administration methods to automate the order-to-cash course of. As an alternative of requiring disruptive platform modifications, Mura works behind the scenes to assist industrial service suppliers receives a commission sooner, cut back overhead, and eradicate handbook knowledge entry in dispatch and billing. One buyer has already reported an 80% lower in time spent on buy order processing whereas considerably lowering downstream accounting and billing errors.
AlleyWatch sat down with Mura CEO, Cofounder, and serial entrepreneur (Cofounded Leaflink) Ryan G Smith to study extra in regards to the enterprise, its future plans, and up to date funding spherical
Who have been your traders and the way a lot did you increase?We’ve raised $1.5M in our pre-seed spherical led by Lerer Hippeau and Levante Capital. A couple of months later, we raised our closely oversubscribed $4.5M seed spherical co-led by Lerer Hippeau and Stage One Fund.
Inform us in regards to the services or products that Mura presents.
Mura automates the order-to-cash course of for industrial area service firms—assume HVAC, electrical, and plumbing—utilizing AI and deep integrations. We assist them receives a commission sooner, cut back overhead, and eradicate handbook knowledge entry in dispatch and billing. It’s automation for the individuals who hold America working.
What impressed the beginning of Mura?
Claire DeRoberts (cofounder) and I beforehand launched LeafLink, the B2B hashish market that now handles over 80% of wholesale hashish orders within the U.S. After constructing that industry-standard platform in a novel house, we started our seek for a novel alternative in a altering house.
A number of months in the past, we shadowed the evening shift at an offshore back-office company within the Philippines and watched a staff of 250 folks manually coming into and processing service orders for industrial area service firms. It appeared much like what we solved in hashish round B2B orders, so we began constructing automations for the handbook work executed by these groups. This time, we will construct extra highly effective expertise even sooner, because of advances in AI and LLMs that didn’t exist once we constructed LeafLink.
What does Mura imply?Mu·ra | ˈmü-rə is a Japanese phrase meaning looking for out irregularities and unevenness in workflows to eradicate inefficiency.
It completely encapsulates what we do with our expertise for our prospects!
How is Mura completely different?Our product imaginative and prescient is deeply rooted within the “darkish software program” strategy. We’re not making an attempt to interchange our prospects’ methods; we plug into them to make their current expertise stack and staff extra environment friendly. Mura integrates with our shoppers’ area service administration methods (FSMs) and billing instruments, automating workflows invisibly within the background.
We’re targeted on one factor: serving to industrial service firms cut back overhead and receives a commission sooner by automating their current processes—not forcing a tech transformation. AI is on the core of how Mura works, however on the finish of the day, our prospects solely care that we’re making them simpler at what they do.
What market does Mura goal and the way massive is it?We goal industrial area service firms—a $300B+ market within the U.S. alone—with a give attention to HVAC, electrical, and plumbing. Most of those firms are PE-backed or family-run and underserved by trendy software program, not to mention the newest in LLMs.
What’s what you are promoting mannequin?We cost a transaction price with a powerfully clear ROI for our shoppers. We don’t imagine in flat SaaS charges for firms with the newest expertise at their core. Our prospects wish to perceive the worth of what we’re supplying them—clear returns on money and time saved—and that aligns with Mura’s mannequin.
How are you getting ready for a possible financial slowdown?Mura truly turns into extra helpful in a slowdown: prospects wish to cut back overhead, pace up collections, and keep away from hiring extra headcount. In the course of the Nice Recession, the service facet of the industrial area service {industry}—who we serve—boomed as a result of folks have been much less excited by totally changing their mechanical gear.
What was the funding course of like?Extremely collaborative with a few of the highest integrity, finest traders we’ve labored with over the past 10 years. We moved shortly as a result of the issue was clear, our staff the very best builders we all know, and we signed industry-leading prospects early.
What are the largest challenges that you simply confronted whereas elevating capital?Limiting the dimensions of the spherical and telling folks “No”.
What elements about what you are promoting led your traders to write down the examine?The staff, the staff, the staff. We discovered a gargantuan alternative with fantastic shoppers, however this early within the constructing course of, it’s largely a personality guess—who’s on the wheel? Getting to construct alongside Claire once more, who was essentially the most dynamic builder at LeafLink, and James, who has constructed distinctive tech with AI at its core for years, is phenomenal.
What are the milestones you propose to attain within the subsequent six months?We’ve closed just a few of the biggest PE-owned operators within the industrial area service house, so by the top of the yr, we’re spending time, actually in-house with their superb groups, to shortly iterate on our product as we gear up for a bigger rollout in ’26. That is precisely the identical strategy we took within the early days at LeafLink—develop into a part of your prospects’ staff, on-site and on-call.
What recommendation are you able to supply firms in New York that shouldn’t have a recent injection of capital within the financial institution?Keep near your prospects—give attention to ache, not polish. Construct one thing that saves time or makes cash—ideally each.
The place do you see the corporate going within the close to time period?We’re heads down turning early wins into repeatable outcomes. Which means deeper automation, extra integrations, and rising inside PE portfolios that handle dozens of service firms. Our ambitions are massive, however the work is grounded: ship worth each week for our prospects.
What’s your favourite spring vacation spot in and across the metropolis?Final weekend we kicked off the summer time with a Century Experience to Montauk—tremendous enjoyable problem, acquired a stable sunburn, and have been in a position to hold on the seaside for a pair days.