BuildOps

BuildOps is a Los Angeles-based software company that builds an operations platform for commercial contractors in trades such as HVAC/mechanical, electrical, plumbing, refrigeration, and fire and life safety. The platform combines service management (work orders, dispatch and scheduling, asset management, preventative maintenance, purchasing and inventory), project management (field execution, resource planning, document control including RFIs and submittals, materials and subcontracts, project financials), financials (invoicing, procurement, time tracking), and sales/CRM functions covering quote-to-contract, pipeline management and sales-to-operations handoff.

An AI layer marketed as OpsAI is embedded across the workflows, with role-specific capabilities for field, service, finance and sales; the company cites features such as Smart Dispatch, described as halving technician travel time, and Smart Recap, which converts field notes into customer-facing documentation. Add-on modules extend the core system, including CRM+, Fleet+ (GPS data feeding the dispatch board) and Payments+. Field teams use an offline-capable mobile app to capture time, parts and photos, and the company emphasizes bidirectional integrations that treat the customer's accounting system as the source of truth, naming Sage, Viewpoint and QuickBooks, along with Sage Intacct in a customer account. BuildOps positions its data model as built for commercial sub-units and complex assets rather than residential addresses.

Press coverage of the March 2025 Series C described BuildOps as a field service management software provider serving commercial contractors in the U.S. and Canada, then with over 1,000 customers and about 375 employees; the company's own site later cites more than 1,500 contractors, 500+ employees and a $1 billion valuation.

Founding story

CEO Alok Chanani, a U.S. Army veteran who served as a Captain in Iraq and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, later worked in Southern California commercial real estate development, where he observed contractors running multimillion-dollar operations on spreadsheets, texts and WhatsApp. He co-founded BuildOps in Los Angeles in 2018 with Steve Chew. Chanani previously founded a commercial real estate group called USA Commercial and holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a BA in economics from Cornell University. A third co-founder, Neeraj Mittal, was previously director of engineering at ServiceTitan and, as of March 2025 reporting, was no longer with the company; Steve Chew had earlier worked at Microsoft, Nextag and Fundly.

Business model

BuildOps sells software as a service to commercial contracting businesses, with core platform modules plus paid add-ons (CRM+, Fleet+, Payments+) that share data with the core workflows.

SaaS subscriptions priced per user under annual contracts, according to the company's CEO in March 2025 press coverage.

Traction

The company reports more than 1,500 commercial contractor customers across North America and 500+ employees, up from over 1,000 customers and roughly 375 employees reported in March 2025 (itself a 50% headcount increase year over year). The CEO said revenue surpassed seven figures in the first year after the 2020 platform launch, tripled in 2021 and 2022, and doubled in 2023 and 2024, while the company remained unprofitable due to investment in scaling. Company-cited benchmark figures include 76% more revenue per technician, 80% more work handled without added overhead, and an average of 2.6 tools replaced. BuildOps ranked No. 336 on the Inc. 5000 in 2026.

Latest developments

In 2025 BuildOps launched OpsAI, its embedded AI layer, including Smart Dispatch and Smart Recap. In 2026 the company reported winning PropTech Project Management Solution of the Year, ranking No. 336 on the Inc. 5000, publishing a 2026 Commercial Contractor Benchmark Report, and naming Dale Earnhardt Jr. as keynote for its Forge 2026 conference. In May 2026, CEO Alok Chanani was named to the Los Angeles Business Journal's 2026 LA500 list of influential executives.