
Apurva Shrivastava is the co-founder and Co-CEO of Avoca, a New York AI company that builds voice and workflow agents for home services businesses like HVAC, plumbing, and roofing contractors. An MIT computer science graduate and second-time founder who built AI products at Apple and engineered at Retool, he and co-founder Tyson Chen pivoted from restaurants to the trades after a chance encounter at a Texas conference. By 2026 Avoca had crossed a $1 billion valuation, 800-plus customers, and $125M-plus raised from Kleiner Perkins, Meritech, and General Catalyst.
Tyson Chen is the co-founder and co-CEO of Avoca, a New York based startup building AI agents that answer the phones, book jobs, and chase estimates for the trades - HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical. He met his co-founder Apurva Shrivastava at an MIT poker night, started out trying to save restaurants from missed calls, then pivoted after a Dallas heating-and-air company showed them that one missed call could mean a lost $40,000 install. In April 2026 Avoca raised a $125M+ Series B led by Meritech and General Catalyst at a $1 billion valuation.