In recent years, the real estate industry has exploded, and there’s a ripple effect taking place across related industries such as construction and home renovation.
Co-founders Luke Sherwin and Koda Wang are leading the charge with the launch of Block, an online platform that brings efficiency and transparency to home renovations. Coming from Casper and Rent the Runway, respectively, both co-founders have experience streamlining processes and making big investments seem a little less intimidating.
“Having come from some pretty dynamic consumer brands, we’ve been exposed to customer-centered service design and want to apply this to the clunky area of home renovation,” said Co-founder Koda Wang. “We’re also familiar with big considered decisions — whether it’s a mattress you’ll sleep on for years or a dress you’ll wear to a wedding — and how to make those experiences better for consumers.”
We’re familiar with big considered decisions — whether it’s a mattress you’ll sleep on for years or a dress you’ll wear to a wedding — and how to make those experiences better for consumers.”
Incorporating fixed costs and set timelines, the Brooklyn-based company makes it possible to purchase a whole new bathroom set the same way you would purchase any other item. It essentially takes the process of home renovation and turns it into a product rather than a service — and that’s exactly what Sherwin and Wang intended.
“It took the intuitive leap of seeing renovations as a product, instead of the uncertainty of finding a service provider, for us to go all-in on this,” said Wang. “Renovation has traditionally entailed the clumsy coordination of so many parts coming together, and could be systematically transformed by flipping the model and taking a fundamentally different approach.”
While the platform currently focuses on bathroom renovations, the co-founders’ long-term goal is to open it up to all facets of the renovation process, including kitchens, flooring and painting.
Launched on Thursday, the service is currently available in New York and northern New Jersey, and investors are onboard. The company raised a venture round of funding earlier this year, and is comprised of eight employees, along with a wide network of architects, designers and contractors.
