BuildOps
“Can a commercial-only contractor platform own the end-to-end operational and financial workflow — from dispatch to ledger — for multi-trade service and construction shops?”
Founded2018
HQLos Angeles, California, USA
FoundersAlok Chanani, Steve Chew
Total raised$250M+
Latest roundSeries C, March 2025
Valuation$1B post-money (2025)
IndustryVertical SaaS / Construction
The story
Founded 2018 as an all-in-one operations platform for commercial specialty contractors (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, fire, refrigeration) — deliberately commercial-only, not residential. Layered on Payments+ in 2023 to move from pure ops software toward embedded financial workflows (invoicing → collections → ERP sync). Reached unicorn status in 2025 while shipping OpsAI, the AI-native layer across service, project, and financial workflows. Embedded finance today is limited to payment acceptance; no lending, banking, payroll, or issuing products from the target itself.
Product timeline
2018
BuildOps founded in Los Angeles by Alok Chanani and Steve Chew to serve commercial contractors.· pivot
2020
Built commercial core: asset-level data, bidirectional ERP syncing, multi-trade workflows.· banking
2023
Launched Payments+ (payment command center for card/ACH collection with ERP sync) and inaugural Forge user conference.· card
2024
Launched 'Tyson for the Trades' initiative with Mike Tyson.· pivot
2025
Launched OpsAI (embedded AI layer) and raised $127M Series C at $1B valuation.· pivot
The stack
3 layers disclosed in BuildOps’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
BuildOps Payments+ (self-operated)
Money movement
in the full report
Accounting
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
8 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.