19 May IU Angel Network Invests in Platform Bringing Trust to Home Services Market
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The IU Angel Network, an investment vehicle of IU Ventures, today announced an investment in Neighbor Serve, a trust-based home services platform founded by IU alumnus Dan Hanrahan. Neighbor Serve is taking on one of the most persistent frustrations in homeownership: finding reliable, high-quality contractors in a market that has long prioritized advertising volume over homeowner outcomes.
The U.S. home services market represents approximately $700 billion in annual spending–yet the experience for most homeowners remains fragmented, opaque, and low-trust. Dominant platforms like Angi and HomeAdvisor operate on lead-generation and advertising models that require contractors to pay for access to leads, often competing against multiple providers for the same job. Homeowners, in turn, are left to sort through a sea of options with limited transparency into quality and fit. The result is misaligned incentives on both sides of the market, persistent inefficiency, and a category defined more by friction than confidence.
For Dan, the path to Neighbor Serve was built on two decades of building and scaling technology companies. After graduating from the Kelley School of Business with a degree in Entrepreneurship in 2001, Dan went on to create Sigstr, a centralized marketing platform that helped businesses manage and leverage employee email signatures as a high-volume advertising channel–acquired by Terminus in 2019. He also co-founded iGoDigital, a cloud-based personalization engine and recommendation platform acquired by ExactTarget in 2012. His entry into home services came through co-founding Haulstr, a dumpster rental service, where he experienced firsthand the fragmentation and trust gaps that define the contractor economy. That experience laid the groundwork for Neighbor Serve.
“I’ve been a recruiter, built and exited two marketing-tech companies, and founded businesses in home services–every chapter pointed to the same gap,” Hanrahan said. “Homeowners can’t trust the search results, contractors can’t trust the leads, and nobody wins. Neighbor Serve is a recruiter for your home–using modern technology to fuel the relationships that actually get projects done right.”
Neighbor Serve replaces the lead-marketplace model with a curated, concierge-driven approach. Rather than sending homeowners into an open bidding system, the platform makes direct, warm introductions to a tightly vetted contractor network–just the top 5% of providers from more than 1,000 evaluated annually. Homeowners can access this network through a Neighbor Club subscription ($96/year) or opt into a full-service Home Concierge experience ($2,400/year) that includes a dedicated coordinator managing their entire home care plan. Contractors pay a flat annual access fee of $3,600, eliminating the pay-per-lead model and aligning the platform around project quality rather than advertising spend.
“What sets Neighbor Serve apart isn’t just the technology–it’s the standard behind it,” said Olivia Schmitt-Metz, Executive Director of the IU Angel Network. “Dan built this platform around a single question: would I send this contractor to my mom’s house? That kind of standard is rare–and it’s exactly what homeowners have been missing.”
That sentiment landed personally for one member of the IU Angel Network. “What drew me to Neighbor Serve was a business plan that’s both realistic and flexible–multiple revenue streams give the company real adaptability as it scales, and that’s what drives long-term success,” he said. “But honestly, the concierge service hit close to home. Up until last August, my grandparents were living independently with the help of home health care–and my parents, as the only local family, were responsible for managing everything else. Neighbor Serve is exactly the kind of service that could have taken the home management burden off their plate entirely.”
The IU Angel Network’s investment will support Neighbor Serve’s seed round, which will fund their expansion from Indianapolis into Bloomington, Columbus, and Cincinnati, as well as key hires in marketing, product engineering, and channel sales.
“Our business is powered by relationships, and the IU Angel Network plugs us directly into the largest alumni network in the country and the largest employer in Bloomington–a community we’re launching in right now,” Hanrahan said. “As we expand our team, platform, and the communities we serve, the IU Angel Network will be a key network in our mission to restore trust to home services, serve neighbors, and support the local contractors who make it all possible.”
Don’t miss Dan being featured at Hoosier Startups–a session sponsored by the IU Angel Network, Paragraph Ventures, and the Flywheel Fund spotlighting high-potential startups with strong ties to Indiana. Hoosier Startups takes place at the IU Founders and Funders Network Venture Summit in Bloomington on May 21-May 22.
About IU Ventures
IU Ventures invests in and supports IU-affiliated early-stage companies. Its investment programs include the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund, the IU Angel Network, and the Innovate Indiana Fund. Further support initiatives include the IU Founders and Funders Network. Each program takes a unique approach to accelerate and support the positive impacts that entrepreneurs affiliated with IU already achieve across the world. http://www.iuventures.com/
About Neighbor Serve
Neighbor Serve is a trust-based home services platform that simplifies how homeowners find, manage, and complete home projects. By replacing fragmented, ad-driven lead marketplaces with curated, concierge-driven matching, the platform connects homeowners to a tightly vetted network of local contractors through warm, direct introductions. Neighbor Serve’s subscription-based model–built for both homeowners and contractors–aligns incentives around project quality and long-term outcomes rather than advertising volume. With strong partner channels through realtors, builders, and inspectors, Neighbor Serve is building the trusted coordination layer for modern homeownership. https://neighborserve.com/
Media Contacts
Dan Hanrahan
Neighbor Serve
dan@neighborserve.com
Olivia Schmitt-Metz
IU Ventures
oschmitt@iu.edu