Investment | Montreal’s RenoRun raises US$142 million

The Montreal-based e-commerce platform RenoRun, which specializes in the sale and delivery of building materials to contractors, has just completed a round of financing of US$142 million.

Richard Dufour
The Press

This is the fourth highest amount ever collected by a start-up in the country in a Series B round, after Blockstream in 2021, Element AI in 2019 and Hootsuite in 2013, underlines Eamonn O’Rourke, CEO and co-founder of RenoRun.

The operation was led by the New York-based investment firm Tiger Global Management with the participation of, among others, Investissement Québec, the BDC Women in Technology Fund, Desjardins Capital and Exportation et développement. Canada.

Existing RenoRun investors are also participating in this financing, including Inovia Capital and Silicon Valley Bank. Executives from Sonder – a techno-real estate company founded in Montreal – and the founders of the online grocer Goodfood Market are also acting as “strategic investors” in this funding round.

Launched five years ago, RenoRun is present in markets such as Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto, Montreal and Washington. Other North American markets are expected to follow in the coming months.

Irishman Eamonn O’Rourke, 42, founded RenoRun in Montreal in 2016 with his wife Julie Chartrand and her brother, Devlin Chartrand.

“In January last year, we were 135 employees. Today, we are more than 500. We are increasing the size of the team at the same time as our income,” said Eamonn O’Rourke in a telephone interview.

RenoRun is on a mission to help construction contractors by planning, sourcing and delivering materials on demand, with predictability and reliability.

The company says it works with manufacturers and distributors to supply its customers with lumber, gypsum, insulation, hardware, and more.

“RenoRun is revolutionizing the construction industry”, comments Jonathan Ferrari, investor and big boss of Goodfood Market. “The application gives their contractor customers a competitive advantage by maximizing their productivity and reducing wasted time on jobsites. The RenoRun team is up to the challenge of rapidly expanding into many other markets. »

Respond to delivery delays

RenoRun management notes that global supply chain constraints, combined with delays in the delivery of building materials, have imposed “heavy inconveniences” on home renovators and contractors.

The company expects the delays to persist this year and continue to pose a challenge for contractors.

Before developing the concept behind RenoRun, the co-founders maintain that they “parked” in front of various hardware stores in the Montreal area to count the people who arrived in work boots, driving vans and pick-up trucks. They claim that their observations led them to conclude that more than a thousand contractors and construction workers were circulating in Montreal hardware stores every hour, which convinced them of the need for a concept of rapid delivery of materials. .

RenoRun defines itself as a technology-focused company, a retail company and a supplier of building materials. They say they can deliver within a 2 hour window, same day, and meet the needs of general contractors with over 15,000 products offered.

For the next two or three years, Eamonn O’Rourke maintains that efforts will be devoted to developing new markets in North America. “Thereafter, thinking about listing the company on the stock market is certainly in the cards,” he said in response to a question about possible interest in the stock market.

Referring to confidentiality, Eamonn O’Rourke did not wish to reveal the turnover, the number of customers or the valuation given to the company by the financing which has just been completed.