Bluon

About the offering

History It all started with a crazy nuclear physicist. After his early scientific career got sidetracked, he spent a career in commercial real estate... until he decided it was time to get back to science. He had a thought... hmm all the R-22 replacements out there suck. Surely, we can create a better one! Want to hear more about our history: Listen to a podcast here. So we got to work! After 4 years of some hard core chemistry, R&D and real world testing on 100’s of formulas, we were able to create an entirely new refrigerant that worked, and it really worked! Along the way, we realized all the lab coat scientists creating refrigerants don’t actually test anything or talk to techs in the REAL WORLD - they relied almost exclusively on computer simulations. News flash, the world doesn’t operate that way! After that experience, we knew why so many of the new refrigerants simply suck and cause so many problems when being installed in the field with no instructions or support. Nobody ever bothered to test them in the real world or ask the folks who would be using them! What a novel idea... Peter then hired two Badass techs - Mike and Bryan - who had spent 40 years each in the trade. They were the best of the best and not only had gobs of technical experience, but knew the trade to its core. And man, with their knowledge and perspective we started to uncover and realize some pretty crazy stuff about this trade. HVAC techs are SHOCKINGLY unsupported - despite how critical they are to keep the world running and with their place as guardians for any new technology to be adopted in the industry. The lack of support was so extreme, it was hard to get your head around. Even today we struggle to understand how this could be? We started aggregating resources and tools for technicians, originally to support the refrigerant we created. And with that, the original Bluon App was born! The database started with just 10,000 HVAC units with retrofit instructions - we also added manuals and wiring diagrams that we had collected from our research. The more info and support we added, the more users and positive feedback we got. We didn’t charge to use the app, but put it out into the world for technicians to use. It QUICKLY became clear that we struck a nerve as word started to get out in the tech community. What started as a handful of curious techs playing around with the app, turned into an explosion of new members joining. Check out what techs were saying: There was clearly a HUGE, unrealized need for a brand agnostic, support eco-system to help HVAC technicians in the field! Techs were wasting hours every day just trying to find basic data and information on the unit they were working. Needless to say, we began shifting our energy and business plan to fuel the platform that we had stumbled into building. With this kind of adoption, we knew we were on to something and found a few investors that believed in the power of the trades and what we were doing to support techs - and the upside of a unique business plan that was built from the tech up! An entirely new approach to capture and FIX the HVAC market, but with a plan that was built on actually benefiting the lives of those working in it! Over the last 3 years, we have continued to be driven by a single mantra: For techs, By techs. In mid 2020 it became clear we would monetize the platform and community WHILE keeping the support aspect free for technicians! We are now taking on the challenge of improving how techs and contractors get parts and materials (and soon equipment) from their local distributors. We heard first hand just how frustrated techs were with the historical interactions with supplier houses: By connecting techs and contractors with their local distributors, we could take a small fee related to this enhanced and much more efficient connection to a severely outdated and broken system. Here's how requesting parts on Bluon actually works. It's simple! Watch this short video to see a demo in action: With our huge community of technicians banding together on the platform, we had the leverage we needed to get distributors on our network. Distributors have never historically been rolled up into one platform because they each want to create their OWN e-commerce buying experience. However, we all know techs often need to work with many distributors and many brands in the same day. They do not want to use a different website or app each time. With Bluon, this is the first time distributors have agreed to be on the same network to benefit their customers. We now have about 2,300 distributors on our network, providing nationwide coverage. And VERY SOON, we will be enabling our members to get real-time quotes from suppliers, finally solving the age-old dilemma of waiting for the counter staff to "get to you". Bluon will let you get what you need, when you need it! Imagine this huge event and opportunity, all stemming from technicians banding together on one platform where they can get some basic support regardless of the brand of equipment they are working on! Click here to see the buzz surrounding this idea at AHR this year! Our brand agnostic database continues to expand to ensure our members can get what they need, when they need it. Currently we have: 400,000 Model #’s with original manuals, wiring diagrams Original part lists (BOMs) for the most of these units 6 Million unique part #’s with specifications Nationwide delivery service with live tracking to get parts delivered PLUS 24/7 Tech support with live video capabilities by the guys below (we have 21 full time techs answering your calls)→ We love hearing what our community thinks about what we built: You might recognize Gil from HVAC Uncensored... So, How Big Is The Market? Every year, contractors and their technicians fork over nearly $100B to distributors to pay for both parts/materials and equipment. It breaks down to approx. $25B in parts and materials and $75B in equipment. The industry has been growing at quite a clip over the past decade and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future. However, the parts market is likely to outpace the equipment market over the coming years due to economic and regulatory factors. Equipment is becoming significantly more expensive and out of reach for many home owners, combined with financing that has become much more expensive as of late! We believe, along with many other industry experts, that service and retrofit jobs will significantly outpace new equipment installations over the next 2-3 years. These factors definitely benefit Bluon, as we add significant value to the service side of contractors and technicians. The Bluon Business Plan With Bluon’s huge community of technicians and contractors connected to its rapidly growing network of distributors, we are in the ideal situation to tap into this $100B B2B market. The business plan is fairly simple: create a highly useful support platform for contractors and their technicians that generates revenue through their use of the platform. This allows Bluon to provide support to contractors and their technicians without costing them a direct fee. Here’s how it works: Contractors and their technicians use the platform → Distributors pay a transaction fee to Bluon → Bluon provides support to the trade. This is the cycle! Although the fees paid by distributors are relatively small and do not affect the price charged to the contractor, they add up VERY QUICKLY due to the sheer size of the market and number of transactions happening every day. Bluon has a very large membership of techs and contractors that have the Bluon App and use it regularly to support their jobs. This is VERY important as Bluon is already in the daily workflow of technicians and contractors. As seen below, Bluon can produce significant revenue while capturing even a very small percentage of the transaction volume currently produced by existing members. Let’s take a closer look at how this works and a few scenarios of adoption to see the size of opportunity: Projections mentioned above are forward-looking and cannot be guaranteed. The Future The above revenue examples are ONLY the beginning for Bluon. As Bluon is the first platform of its kind, with a completely brand, supplier and contractor agnostic platform - we have the ability to offer integrations and services that have previously been impossible to even contemplate in the HVAC industry. One primary example of this future evolution is integration with Field Service Management platforms to enable direct connections from the OEM, to the Distributor, to the Contractor and all the way to the Customer. This interconnectivity will create a new type of software platform for Contractors - large and small - to take advantage of, where the very use of the platform pays for the platform. As a contractor uses the platform to transact with its local suppliers, or offer financing options to its customers, or offer warranties to its customers - it creates value for those connected partners. As a result, those partners would effectively pay for the contractor’s field service software. The future has already begun and we are just getting started! Bluon and Sera Systems announce plans to integrate their software platforms: Click to Read Press Release Bluon and XOI to integrate their platforms: Click to Read Press Release As we wrap up this narrative about the exciting future Bluon has in front of it, we wanted to share with you a funny video that we created that is loaded with inside jokes for the techs out there! ENJOY!

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