Raleigh-based Startup FilterEasy announced today that it has raised $1.2 million of seed round investment, lead by Azure Capital, RTP Capital, and alongside a handful of Angel investors. FilterEasy is a member-based air filter subscription service for homeowners, which has an immediate impact on the air quality and energy savings inside a home.
How it works is pretty simple: customers sign up online, select the size of filters in the home, choose the quality of filters, how often they’ll be changed, and then filters arrive on your schedule – creating a physical reminder that it’s time to change them. There is no charge for shipping and the company offers three different filter grades that range from $10-20 per filter. I mean, if we are getting razors and meals delivered to our doorstep monthly, air filters should be a priority.
“Changing your filters is a pain; you have to remember when to do it, what size you need, and then travel to the store hoping your size is there,” said Thad Tarkington, co-founder and CEO of FilterEasy. “This hassle has pushed most homeowners to rarely changing their filters, which leads to higher energy bills and poor quality air. We figured if we could deliver quality filters at a good price, homeowners would change their filters more often.”
By changing filters regularly, homeowners can expect to save over $100 a year (5-15% a mo.) on their heating and cooling expenses while avoiding multiple trips to the store searching for the correct size filter. So, if like me, you can’t remember when you changed your air filters and the service makes sense. What makes their business model even more interesting is their approach: the subscription-based model. It makes sense because it ends up attracting a broader customer base by offering offering a lower upfront cost to consumers.
“Consumers have proven they will adopt subscription services that save them time and money, while making life easier,” said Mike Kwatinetz, General Partner, Azure Capital Partners. “FilterEasy is infusing a market that has traditionally worked the same way for years, with a more cost-effective means to increasing the health of not just their largest material asset, their home, but also themselves. Because the company educates consumers that changing filters more frequently actually saves them money it is also expanding the market size.”
As a 2013 graduate of tech accelerator The Iron Yard, FilterEasy officially launched in the Spring of 2014 experiencing immediate month-over-month customer growth. The startup was founded by Tarkington and Kevin Barry who started the company while attending North Carolina State University. After a painful and time-consuming experience buying and changing air filters for their apartments, the two begun working on a service that would simplify the process of buying and changing the right air filters for the right dwelling.
“The majority [of the funding] will be spent on marketing and additional team members to support our growth. We’re also working on tools to serve the small business and commercial space which are in development now,” explains Tarkington