Zuper is a company that empowers fast-growing service businesses to scale and modernize their field operations with the industry’s most comprehensive, flexible, and customizable field service management solution. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Zuper CEO Anand Subbaraj to learn more about the company.
Anand Subbaraj’s Background
What is Anand Subbaraj’s background? Subbaraj said:
“I started my career in 2001 as an associate consultant at Tata Consultancy Services before transitioning to Microsoft, where I spent thirteen years as a product leader working on five “Version 1” products. Working with products in their infancy, I saw firsthand what it takes for them to succeed. At Microsoft, I also found that I had a passion for mentorship and management and learned how valuable company culture is to the productivity and well-being of teams and people. This combined love for building products from the ground up and directing teams of talented developers and engineers led me to found Zuper, an all-encompassing software platform for field service teams.”
Formation Of Zuper
How did the idea for Zuper come together? Subbaraj shared:
“The idea for Zuper came from a frustrating personal experience when I bought a new home appliance. It was fresh off the truck and wasn’t working, and it was so difficult to get a hold of customer service. Ultimately, I had three different technicians show up for six home visits before the issue was resolved. I thought, “In this age of modern technology, there’s no way this common process can’t be improved.”
“This experience was the genesis of Zuper – what technology already exists that we can use to solve this efficiency problem and how? In what ways are service businesses having trouble helping customers, not only from the technician perspective but back-office as well?”
Favorite Memory
What has been Subbaraj’s favorite memory working for the company so far? Subbaraj reflected:
“There have been a lot of great memories so far! Working with a great team, as well as customers and partners, has provided me with many milestones and relationships that will stick with me. A standout memory from earlier this year is that Zuper was featured on the NASDAQ Tower billboard in Times Square. Following the close of our Series B fundraise in late 2023, this moment marked our collective growth as a business and was representative of all the service teams we have helped.”
“As a founder, it’s easy to chase the next goal constantly, but seeing our names on the NASDAQ tower was a rare moment our team stepped back and reflected on the hard work that brought us to that milestone.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Subbaraj explained:
“Zuper is an intelligent field service management platform designed to help organizations streamline and optimize their field operations. Companies in HVAC, cleaning, pool maintenance, landscaping, solar, and other industries use Zuper’s platform to modernize and scale their operations. Some of the core platform features include:
— Work order management
— Smart scheduling and dispatching
— Automated accounting, invoicing, estimates and contracts
— Asset and inventory management
— Digital payments
— Real-time technician location tracking
We provide real-time reporting and analytics, seamless integration with existing technology, and customizable workflows. Zuper offers white-glove services and support, allowing customers to maximize the platform’s benefit and customize it to their workflows from day one. We are focused on providing a comprehensive tool for workforce and customer management, allowing service businesses to operate more efficiently and deliver better customer experiences.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Subbaraj and the team faced in building the company? Subbaraj acknowledged:
“Countless companies suffered significant revenue losses during the pandemic, but we were fortunate to maintain a steady business cadence because of the essential nature of service work. Cleaning, sanitization, HVAC maintenance, home repair and installation, and more remained critical during the pandemic, and in some cases, demand increased. Zuper’s platform continued to help these companies manage their operations efficiently through increased demand.”
“As the service industry came out from the pandemic, a big challenge we faced at Zuper was maintaining steady growth. We adapted quickly to the initial surge of demand during COVID, but we had to acclimate again to maintain our growth. Our solution was to lean in further to the customizability of our platform and expand into new industries.”
“We began exploring new verticals like electric vehicle infrastructure while emphasizing that our tool could be built to fit the unique needs of each business, no matter the industry.”
Evolution Of Zuper’s Technology
How has Zuper’s technology evolved since launching? Subbaraj noted:
“Our core software allows businesses with field service teams to digitize and automate daily operational processes like scheduling, dispatching and tracking. After positive feedback from our pilot customers, we incorporated advanced capabilities—leveraging artificial intelligence, IoT, and real-time data to optimize and automate every step of the process, customizable for each business’s use case. We saw an opportunity to bring together information, real-time service, and technology-driven optimization to the field service industry. Beyond our initial capabilities, Zuper supports real-time tracking and scheduling without leaving the platform, optimized dispatching and routing, seamless customer communication and more.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Subbaraj about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“We work with Cowboy Pools, an Austin, TX-based company owned and operated by Aaron Weiss and Amanda Shaftel. The company has developed a popular smaller-scale, above-ground preassembled stock tank pool, The Honcho, that can be quickly and cost-effectively installed in most backyards.”
“With business booming, Weiss and Shaftel went looking for a solution to optimize operations and workflows further. The company was using a legacy solution with disconnected processes, increasing staff work strain and delaying job completion. It typically took Cowboy Pools one hour to schedule a pool install in their Austin and Houston markets as staff navigated disjointed processes, email, and other tools.”
“Using Zuper’s platform for automating scheduling and dispatching, automated invoicing and payment reminders, and the mobile app, Cowboy Pools was able to increase efficiency for a lot of back-office processes and improve daily technician efficiency. With the scheduling and dispatching feature, the company has decreased the timeframe to order and install a pool regionally by 80%.”
“Use of the mobile app provides every technician with access to the history of the account and previous service. The mobile app ensures regular communication with the customer enhancing the overall experience. For example, technicians can share before and after pictures directly with the customer.”
“Cowboy Pools has also been able to use Zuper’s FSM platform as key to keeping its field teams happy. Employees are in high demand in Cowboy Pools’ regional market and finding ways to make their jobs easier is important for morale. Since adopting Zuper, the company has improved field staff retention by 30%.”
“Invoice automation simplifies the billing process significantly for Cowboy Pools by calendar customization, reducing manual work for back-office staff, eliminating errors, and automating payment reminders. As a result, they can focus on proactive customer outreach to win business and reduce day sales outstanding (DSO), improving the organization’s capital position. All of the increased efficiency, employee retention, and improved accounts receivable processes have played a part in enabling the company to scale and expand its offering beyond the Houston and Austin regions.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Subbaraj cited:
“In 2022, we grew our global customer base by more than 50%, processed over $40 million in payments, and enabled our customers to automate 12 million work orders. We ended 2023 with a Series B investment that enabled us to expand into new geographies and industries like manufacturing, facility management, and renewable energy infrastructure maintenance. We were recently awarded the 2024 Next Tech Titan at the GeekWire Awards, a testament to our hard work and success and a belief in our potential to grow.”
“We continue to announce new partnerships and seamlessly integrate with 60+ CRM and collaboration apps. In 2024, we expanded our integration capabilities to include Avalara (tax management), Clyr (automating expense management), and Freshworks (customer service).”
Funding
When asking Subbaraj about the company’s funding details, he revealed:
“In December 2023, we closed on a $32 million Series B funding round, led by FUSE with participation from Prime Ventures.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Subbaraj assessed:
“Zuper is targeting a 4.43 billion dollar total addressable market within the field service management sector. With increasing digitization, the TAM includes the growing number of field operations across different industries from construction to retail.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Subbaraj affirmed:
“Zuper provides the most comprehensive, flexible, and configurable field services management solution. Differentiated from solutions that focus solely on back-office management and tracking of field service workers, Zuper provides features and functionality, including no-code workflows, that enable the most frictionless, streamlined experience for both service businesses and their end customers. Zuper integrates easily with leading CRMs, ERPs, and other applications that businesses use, such as HubSpot, Zoho, Salesforce, Zendesk, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and more – enabling companies to keep their preferred tech stack.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Subbaraj pointed out:
“Zuper is focused on vertical expansion and product innovation. We speak directly with our customers to understand their evolving needs and continue to tailor Zuper’s offerings to industry-specific problems. We are also working to integrate more and more GenAI and automation into our platform, pushing the boundaries of what our solution can achieve.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Subbaraj concluded:
“Field service continues to grow, become more digitized, and attract new talent. We are seeing a surge of innovation that is long overdue. For years, this sector was slower to adopt new technologies, but now we’re seeing innovation everywhere – from our customers and partners and the entire industry. This shift is all in favor of transforming the customer experience.”
“At Zuper, we’re strongly emphasizing improving the technician experience. We believe that empowering your field teams with the right tools and education leads to higher efficiency, job satisfaction, and quality of service.”
