A few years ago, Zuriel Babalola purchased a small home with hopes of renovating it and turning it into a bachelor pad.
He thought, “No worries. I can do it.”
He bought the property, but soon realized that the job was too big to accomplish on his own. He turned to contractors to tackle the work, but couldn’t find any who could work within his budget.
“So the quick renovation idea turned into a two-year ordeal—a painful deal,” he said. “I sold the home.”
But instead of letting the experience defeat him, Zuriel was inspired to launch a startup that could help others who experienced the same challenge.
“I said to myself, there’s got to be a better way of doing this,” he said.
One thing that struck Zuriel was the fact that contractors submitted quotes to homeowners in a vacuum, rather than competing directly against other service professionals for jobs. This led to Zuriel’s vision for Homezze, a bidding platform revolutionizing the home services industry.
Homezze generates competition, drives quality and decreases costs. Access to the platform is free for homeowners and contractors, and the concept revolves around transparent bidding. Once a project is created, service professionals can engage with the homeowner directly through a messaging app; video conferencing; or in-person meeting.
Zuriel created Homezze to fix problems in what he considers a broken ecosystem binding homeowners to service professionals. With Homezze, costs are driven by the market; project management is based on milestones; and financial obligations are filled on a pay-as-you-go basis. The key component is the time saved for all involved.
The need for a service like Homezze was underscored during the pandemic, when the number of home improvement projects increased dramatically and revealed the need for a reimagined process. Homezze is now bridging the gap between contractors and homeowners with higher-quality work and competitive prices.
“By leveraging the free market principle, we’ve optimized the whole process of how homeowners find, engage and connect with service professionals,” Zuriel said. “We’re transforming the relationship between homeowners and service professionals.”
The CEO of Homezze, Zuriel’s background is as a senior product manager who has worked in tech for the last 12 years. He previously built a range of technology applications in different business verticals, including the Victoria’s Secret and Express fashion companies. He has also worked in various product roles that focused on energy, logistics and club management sectors.
“I have an array of experience when it comes to applying technology to real-life issues and adding value to the end user,” Zuriel said. “My background is in using technology to find solutions that solve issues impacting people’s lives and businesses.”
Zuriel praised his team, placing emphasis on the work done by Homezze Sr. Product Manager Sheraz Abdul Hayee. Overall, the Homezze team through its work stresses collaboration, urgency and simplicity in problem-solving.
Adding to the firm foundation that lies at the heart of Homezze’s success is a series of partnerships, including collaborations with financial institutions that provide home improvement loans; and partnerships with retail stores that create project funnels for service professionals.
Despite the early stage of Homezze, the potential of the company is strong. Launched in 2021, the startup’s own projections forecast a more than doubling of revenue from 2024-25.
“This team has done so much,” Zuriel said. “We’ve built so much technology, so much capability. The team has really gone above and beyond and over-delivered.”
Visit homezzepro.com | homezze.com to learn more.
