Lula bets on responsible growth to hit profitability; why the startup’s most valuable property is room to scale

Lula opened 2025 by announcing a hefty funding round; the momentum has only continued to build, founder Bo Lais shared.

On top of its $28 million Series A round in early February, the Kansas City-based proptech startup expanded to more than 50 markets nationwide and had eight straight months of record gross merchandise value and net revenue this year, he continued.

Bo Lais, Lula; photo courtesy of Pipeline Entrepreneurs

“It’s been a tough market out there for startups with the economic headwinds,” said Lais, noting Lula benefits now because it avoided taking the bait a few years ago when company valuations were high and venture funding was more readily available. “There’s the mentality — especially on the coast — to grow at all costs. Being from the Midwest, we’re proud to have a mindset of responsible growth. It’s served us well.”

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“We want to grow fast; we want to keep our investors and our shareholders and stakeholders happy,” he added, “but at the same time, we want to be responsible about how we do it.”

Lula — a leading platform for streamlined property maintenance solutions and one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022 — is on track to reach consistent profitability and sustained cash flow positive status by the end of fiscal year 2026, Lais said. He also expects to achieve 80 percent revenue growth this year.

“We’re actually over performing a little bit, which is great,” Lais explained. “The last two years we’ve re-accelerated growth. And for a startup that went to market in 2017, that’s really challenging, but another source of pride.”

Lula executive team; photo courtesy of Lula

Such scaling hasn’t gone unnoticed. Lula was named Ingram’s Fastest Growing Company in Kansas City, recently landed on the Inc. 5000 list for the third year in a row, and made the KC Fast50 once again. But at the end of the day, Lais noted, those are just headlines.

“They are proof that our growth is consistent, it’s sustainable, and that we’re continuing to accelerate in our space,” he acknowledged. “They’re nice accolades and they’re just small reminders that we’re doing something right and meaningful in this space.”

Lais credits Cameron Murray — hired as Lula’s head of finance after the funding round — with helping the startup land its cash-flow positive status since July.

“He’s been absolutely amazing,” he explained. “The enterprise value he’s created for the company is just extremely meaningful. He’s been able to change the way that our cash inflows and outflows work, which fundamentally changed how cash moves through our business.”

“Not only does it reduce risk,” Lais added, “it allows us to take a few more bets, bring on some additional talent, and just continue to make this a stronger organization.”

Before Murray joined the team, the finance duties fell squarely on Lais’ shoulders, he noted.

“Although, as a CEO, you have to have some experience in finance, that’s not my background,” he said. “So bringing him on has just been a game changer for this organization.”

Lula founder Bo Lais leads a Johnson County stop on a spring 2025 tour of the Kansas City entrepreneur ecosystem, which included a stop at Lula’s headquarters; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Lula has now integrated with every major property management software used by its target customers, Lais said, and deployed 15 agentic models that automate workflow and make the platform smarter and more efficient for property managers and contractors alike.

Such developments helped necessitate the hiring of Haley Waters-Fields as Lula’s head of go-to-market, Lais noted. Waters-Fields previously held a similar position at SafetyCulture.

“They were once an early-stage company and they’ve really grown tremendously,” he said of the scaling company that splits headquarters between Kansas City’s Crossroads and a homebase in Australia. “So we’re excited about her bringing all those learnings over to Lula to do it all over again with us.”

Lais said it’s incredible to see what the team at Lula has developed — from product to company culture — since he first had the idea to make property maintenance easy.

“Building something special in Kansas City — which is a city I love — makes every milestone just that much more meaningful,” he explained. “What’s really exciting is that we’re still an early-stage company that’s really just getting started. There’s so much more room ahead for us to make a real impact in the property management industry.” 

“I’m excited about what the next five years brings,” Lais added, “because although we’ve accomplished a lot and we’ve been around for a while, we’re really at the point now where we’re truly scaling the business.”