# Ben Johnson

> Ben Johnson is the Austin-based founder and former CEO and president of Spruce, an apartment services platform. He co-founded Scaffold in 2024 and now serves as its CEO, applying his experience coordinating field services to residential construction data. His public career spans ING Capital, Spruce, Texas Game Exchange and an advisory role at Gatby.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Scaffold
- **Organizations:** Spruce, Scaffold, ING Capital, Texas Game Exchange, Gatby
- **Education:** BBA, Finance, University of Texas at Austin, MBA, with Honors, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- **Known for:** Named a 2022 HousingWire Rising Star., Founded Spruce, which announced a footprint exceeding one million apartment units in March 2023., Co-founded Scaffold, which announced a $15 million seed round in September 2026.

## Career timeline

- **Before Spruce** — Worked in corporate and investment banking at ING Capital.
- **2016-04** — Spruce launched, initially known as Apartment Butler.
- **2019** — Spruce relocated from Houston to Austin.
- **2020-11** — Spruce raised an $8 million Series A led by Mercury Fund.
- **2021** — Spruce acquired Chicago apartment-cleaning company The Minte.
- **2022-07** — Johnson moved from CEO to president as Steven Pho became CEO; Spruce announced a $26 million Series B.
- **2023-03** — Spruce announced availability in over one million apartment units.
- **2024** — Co-founded Scaffold with Robert Eanes.
- **2026-05** — Scaffold received a $100,000 HTV Investment award at Pitchfest in Charlotte.
- **2026-09** — Scaffold announced a $15 million seed round led by Navitas Capital.

## Achievements

- Named a 2022 HousingWire Rising Star.
- Founded Spruce, which announced a footprint exceeding one million apartment units in March 2023.
- Co-founded Scaffold, which announced a $15 million seed round in September 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Scaffold announced a $15 million seed round led by Navitas Capital and reported deployment on more than 200,000 homes across 30 states.
- **2026-07** — Scaffold published its account of receiving the $100,000 HTV Investment award at the May 2026 Housing Innovation Summit Pitchfest.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-johnson-20229514
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/BJohnson614

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ben-johnson-spruce
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22