AI startups are popping out one after another. From students to entrepreneurs, everyone is trying their hand at the emerging field, but the ones truly succeeding are those putting all their time and effort into their dreams. AJ Jain and Aditya Ketkar, two BITS Pilani alumni, went door to door across Northern California to understand the challenges faced by small businesses. Soon, they created an AI startup called Broccoli AI, which has raised $52 million in funding. According to a report by Fortune, Jain and Ketkar secured $22 million in Series A funding and another $30 million in Series B funding, just nine months apart. Both rounds were led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator and Operator Partners. The startup is reportedly valued at $300 million.
From BITS Pilani to Silicon Valley
Jain and Ketkar met at BITS Pilani in 2016 and began building businesses together the following year. Their earlier ventures included a campus delivery app, an interview preparation boot camp and an electric vehicle software startup. After failing to scale their previous businesses, the duo moved to San Francisco in January 2024.But instead of diving headfirst into developing another product, they began visiting around 140 contractors’ offices across Northern California to understand their everyday problems. “People were not treating us like salesmen,” Jain told Fortune. “Curious kids were, like, our persona.” Their breakthrough came when they met Marcelle Flowers, the owner of Armstrong Plumbing in Sacramento.Flowers initially mistook the two entrepreneurs for students selling chocolates to raise money. “I literally said, ‘ You have five minutes,” she recalled. At the time, Flowers was sceptical about AI and feared it would replace workers. However, the founders demonstrated an automated appointment reminder system that addressed a problem her business was facing.Impressed by their idea, she began working with them to develop AI tools for plumbing businesses. “She was the operator who helped us create this,” Jain said. “She’s the soul of the company.” Flowers eventually became Broccoli AI’s chief operating officer.The founders’ partnership with Marcelle Flowers went beyond testing an early product. According to Fortune, Flowers was paying an answering service $5,000 a month, but it was entering appointments into her business software correctly only about 33% of the time. After the founders demonstrated their automated reminder system, she asked whether they could develop similar technology to handle incoming customer calls. The team reportedly built that feature within 10 days.Jain and Ketkar then spent about three months working from Flowers’ plumbing business in Sacramento, learning how contractors handled customer enquiries, appointments and estimates. Flowers helped them understand the practical demands of the industry and became their first customer before joining as an adviser and later chief operating officer. She also contributed to the startup’s branding, including its logo, colours and first trade-show booth.Flowers brought decades of industry experience to the young technology company. She joined her father’s plumbing business in 1995 and launched its residential service-and-repair operation in 2011. She told Fortune that she grew the residential business from approximately $1 million to $8 million in annual revenue over seven years without outside capital. Her experience helped the founders develop technology around the everyday problems faced by contractors rather than building a product based solely on assumptions about the industry.
A successful startup
Broccoli AI develops AI agents that answer customer calls, schedule appointments, follow up on estimates and manage service memberships for plumbing, electrical and other home-service companies. The company has also expanded into areas including roofing, pool care, garage doors and exterior home improvement.According to Venture Intelligence, the company says its technology has handled more than 10 million customer interactions and booked 2.5 million appointments. Its reported customer base includes Ace Hardware Home Services, Mr. Electric, Any Hour Group and Authority Brands.The founders say the technology is intended to help small businesses respond to customers more consistently, particularly outside normal office hours, rather than eliminate the need for human employees. Jain told Fortune that the system can handle around 80% of tasks, while the remaining work requires human judgement. Calls involving emergencies, such as a flooded basement or a fire, can be directed to people at the contractor’s office.According to Jain, revenue has tripled since the Series A round, while the workforce has expanded to more than 150 employees. Despite concerns about automation replacing jobs, Jain believes AI can support existing workers. “It’s not taking away jobs,” he said. “It’s making jobs.”