Puls Raises $50M Series C To Expand Its Repair And Smart Home Services

Puls, an on-demand service for mobile repairs, TV mounting, and smart home set up, has closed a $50 million Series C funding round.

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The funding brings the San Francisco startup’s total raised to $93 million since its inception in 2015.

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings led Puls’s latest round, which also included participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital Israel, Israel’s Red Dot Capital Partners, Samsung NEXT, and Viola Ventures, also out of Israel. The round also included investments from Hanaco Venture Capital and Hamilton Lane.

Puls, formerly known as CellSavers, started out repairing mainly smartphones and tablets. Over the past year, the startup expanded its services to include more than 200 products such as big-screen TVs, HD antennas, garage door openers, video doorbells, and smart thermostats.

Also over the past year, Puls added demoing, setup, and installation to its list of services. The company claims that its proprietary software platform matches a customer “with the right skilled technician with the right parts” in as little as 60 minutes.

Over time, Puls built a network of freelance technicians and is contracted with more than 2,500 across the United States. It has 65 employees across its offices in San Francisco, San Diego, and Tel Aviv. Its revenue climbed three times in 2017 compared to 2016, according to Eyal Ronen, Puls co-founder and CEO.

Puls said it is capitalizing on two global trends: widespread adoption of affordable connected devices and ever-increasing consumer expectations for on-demand services.

The global online on-demand home services market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 48.46 percent from 2017 to 2021, according to a 2017 report by Research and Markets.

“As consumers depend on electronic devices for every aspect of daily life, the world needs a new service model,” he said. “No one should have to drive across town and stand in line to speak to an expert, or wait hours at home for a local repair van to show up.”

Puls is currently in more than 50 U.S. metro areas, including San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Denver, Chicago, Seattle, and Portland, according to Ronen. Its top five states are Texas, California, Arizona, Florida, and New York. The company plans to use its latest raise to expand in North America.

Looking ahead, Puls plans to accelerate its direct-to-consumer business as well as expand its strategic partnerships with large retailers, insurance companies, and hardware OEMs. Google, Samsung SmartThings, ANTOP, SimpliSafe, Lighthouse, and Hisense are current partners.

The company also plans to add more verticals with a focus on home appliances and personal computers, which will be launched in early 2019.