Digitization is experiencing a boom this year in all segments of the economy, and this is not the case in such a traditional industry as heating. This is proven by the current data of the startup Topíte.cz, which was established three years ago and connects heating with digital technologies.
But only this year did he experience something from which its founders, heaters Karel Náprstek, Jiří Švéd and Daniel Helcl, literally spun dolls. The company’s turnover increased by 612 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year.
“Last year we concluded contracts for less than 5 million crowns in the first half of the year, this year we had concluded contracts worth 28.7 million in the same period,” calculates the service founder and head of the company Daniel Helcl. The company has exceeded the value of 500 installations this summer and is preparing for further technological and territorial expansion.
“Our goal this year is to conclude contracts worth a total of three million euros (approximately 79.5 million crowns, ed. Note),” adds Helcl and already plans to become a leader in its field in the Central European market within four years. .
“We recently tested a sample of 163 Czech registered companies and sole traders across the country, how accessible the services of heating engineers are in our country. Only 15 percent of respondents said they were interested in the contract or the capacity to perform it. And I’m not talking about the level of communication, which in many cases was confusing and completely inadequate, “Helcl explained to Forbes at the end of last year, why he and his colleagues basically threw themselves into the field.
A bet on digital technologies that facilitate communication between craftsmen and speed up and make more transparent the process of ordering a plumber for heat pumps, boilers or even air conditioning (Topíte.cz focuses on all this today), so the three founders are coming out. “It is acknowledged that digitalisation is fully conquering traditional industries, and we are delighted to be pioneers.”
In addition, Topíte.cz will open up to other craftsmen outside the company itself via the so-called marketplace – by the end of the year, it wants to make its web application available to tradesmen from anywhere. It will thus become the first nationwide heating platform that will bring together the services of verified suppliers from all over the country.
The company has already attracted investors, when last year it received 20 million crowns from the Presto Ventures and Enern Ruby funds. “Thanks to this, we had the opportunity to build a great sales team, and thanks to technology we have significantly improved the customer’s journey – online calculator, service application, the possibility of ordering an expert visit, consultation via WhatsApp…,” Helcl calculates the reasons for this year’s growth and adds that and the growing demand for heat pumps, which is rising by a fifth each year.
Until this summer, the company handled all orders and installations centrally from Prague, but a few months ago it expanded its Moravian team and strengthened its internal team, which today has 50 members.
So this year for Topíte.cz is marked by stabilization on the Czech market, but the company is already looking abroad, as part of which it is now running in the next investment round for investors who would help it with expansion and the associated growth again.
“We plan to become a leader in the CEE region by 2024. As the first expansion, we plan Poland in 2021 and look around other markets, ”concludes Helcl.
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