This post originally appeared on the Louisiana Technology Park blog.
Baton Rouge-based startup Block is using a high-tech approach to disrupt the traditionally low-tech industry of lawn care while also making a positive community impact.
Block is a landscaping technology startup that is centered around an on-demand lawn-care app. With Block, homeowners can select the lawn-care services they need, get clear pricing, schedule service and pay, all within the app. The service is set to officially launch this summer.
“We provide on-demand lawn care so you have more time for what matters,” says co-founder and CEO Matthew Armstrong.
Rooted in service
The idea for Block blossomed after Armstrong and his wife, who both helped start Antioch Community Church, decided to move to a north Baton Rouge neighborhood and look for ways to make a positive impact in the area. “We said ‘Let’s move and just see where we can help,’ ” he says. “ ‘Let’s observe, let’s get to know people, let’s build relationships — and then let’s just see what happens.’ ”
One of the ways Armstrong found to make a small positive impact in the lower-income neighborhood was to start mowing overgrown lots. Eventually, he started pondering how he could make a similar impact on a larger scale, which led him to the concept of on-demand lawn care in early 2018.
Armstrong reached out to Jacob Jolibois, a designer who was the director of digital at MESH, a branding and advertising agency in Baton Rouge, to pitch the company idea. The duo started kicking around the concept, writing up a business plan and tinkering with design ideas in their spare time. “We just started playing with the idea,” Armstrong says.