Our mission is to turn complex, messy public records into standardized intelligence that's ready for analysis and action.
Everything built first appears in local government records. Shovels captures that signal, using AI to clean, enrich, and unify land-use decision, permit, contractor, and property data from thousands of municipalities. Delivered through our API, web app, or data warehouse, we turn messy public records into standardized, shovel-ready intelligence that helps industries anticipate growth and make smarter decisions.
We started in 2022 with a focused mission: turn complex, messy public records into standardized intelligence that's ready for analysis and action. Our data offerings have expanded over time to include contractor intelligence, geospatial analysis, and property attributes—but the core principle remains the same.
2020
May 2020
Ryan's previous company, MightySignal, acquired Luka's previous company, AppMonsta. Two years later, they founded Shovels.ai.
Introduction to Shovels2022
Nov 2022
Shovels launches to fix information asymmetry in the trades. The prototype covers one county: Contra Costa, CA.
Introduction to Shovels2023
Mar 2023
Lead investor Coelius Capital joined a $610,000 angel round, the first outside capital raised.
March 2023 Newsletter2024
Oct 2024
API 2.0 ships after a six-month infrastructure rebuild: higher fidelity, new endpoints.
Welcome to Shovels V2Nov 2024
The web app launches out of beta: 10x more filters, saved profiles, no code required.
Welcome to Shovels Online2025
May 2025
The Nationwide Contractor State License File (1.8M contractors across 37 states) is the first dataset that isn't permits.
Introducing the Shovels Nationwide Contractor State License FileJun 2025
Base10 Partners leads, bringing total funding to $6.5M. 180M permits, 30M addresses, 3M contractors.
Shovels Raises $5M Seed RoundSep 2025
Going after the ~10,000 jurisdictions that never went online: 350+ connected and 10M permits added in three months.
Project Storm: How We're Bringing America's Offline Jurisdictions Online2026
Jan 2026
First acquisition. Adds local government meeting intelligence, visibility months before a permit is filed.
Shovels Acquires ReZoneJan 2026
The AI agent for permit intelligence, plain-English search across 185M records, no SQL.
Meet CharlieApr 2026
Passed the audit, likely the first SOC 2-compliant permit data provider.
April 2026 NewsletterAug 2026
Rebuilt app with Properties searchable alongside permits and contractors, Charlie built in, public pricing.
The New Shovels Online Is LiveWe run on a written-first operating system: engineering in Europe, commercial team in the US, so anything that matters survives a 24-hour round trip in writing. Meetings are for decisions, not updates.
We also treat the way we operate as a product: intentionally light and always open to improvement. We add a ritual only when a real gap emerges, and change it when it no longer works. In practice, that means:
Exposure and input on financials and strategy, and a real voice in company direction.
A deliverable counts when a customer uses it to make a decision, not when it ships.
Team spread across the US (mostly west coast) and EMEA.
We aim for twice-yearly, in-person gatherings for fun, connection, hackathons, and strategy.
Every new jurisdiction or data point goes through the same rigorous review before it ships.
Sharing agent workflows and prompt patterns across the team for visibility and productivity efficiencies.
A small, distributed team spread between Europe and the US, united by a stubborn belief that public records should be, well…. public.
Thumbtack uses Shovels to standardize contractor license data across 37 states, streamlining verification, reducing onboarding friction, and helping its Trust & Safety team verify more pros faster.
Home services marketplace
61HAWK used Shovels and Charlie to uncover hundreds of high-intent leads in just six days, turning hard-to-find permit signals into a scalable, data-driven sales strategy.
Advertising agency
Copper used Shovels' permit data to identify 4,036 electrification-ready households, driving a 1.41% conversion rate and 257 conversion events through highly targeted outreach.
Home electrification
Boldr used Shovels to replace manual prospecting with data-driven targeting, identifying qualified HVAC contractors and homeowners while tracking installation trends for smarter market expansion.
HVAC go-to-market
BAIZEL used Shovels' real-time permit intelligence to cut site-selection research from weeks to minutes, increasing sites analyzed by 100% and improving deal-to-close rates by 25%.
Commercial real estate
Join us for the ride.
