Our Story
It started with an
air conditioner.
The summer of 2025 was a rough one in New York City. Over 14 days above 90°F. Tony, a condo owner in a recently built building, realized they'd never had their AC serviced. Not once. A quick search confirmed the worst: most manufacturers recommend maintenance twice a year. They were years overdue.
He emailed the building to ask when they'd organize maintenance. The response? Apartment owners are responsible for their own maintenance. No recommendations. No coordination. Nothing.
Here's the thing: this is incredibly common in New York condos and co-ops. Even buildings with an active board struggle to organize services like AC maintenance. Not everyone agrees on how often it should be done, especially when cost is a factor. And board members face a real risk. If a resident hires an uninsured professional and something goes wrong, the building is exposed. So the board stays out of it, and each owner figures it out alone.
Then a neighbor mentioned that another resident's AC had recently broken down. A unit less than five years old that should've lasted twenty. The repair cost over $6,000, took seven weeks, and left their apartment basically unlivable in the middle of summer. To make it worse, the warranty had expired before the building was even finished because the machines were installed early in construction.
That was enough motivation. Tony found a vendor willing to do the AC maintenance for $400 a unit instead of the $550 going rate — about $150 saved per home — if he could get neighbors to sign up together. Within 36 hours, 20 neighbors said yes. Within two weeks, 42 people had committed. That was one building, one job — every Kindo price is set fresh when local pros compete for your building's work.
42 neighbors signed up in two weeks. Then the insurance paperwork nearly killed the whole project.
The day the work was supposed to start, everything stopped. The building required a Certificate of Insurance naming the property as Additional Insured, exactly as New York Labor Law demands. Without it, every resident and the building itself would be considered the "General Contractor" in the eyes of the law. And in New York, that liability exposure averages over $1 million per claim.
Getting the paperwork sorted took three extra days. Three days of lost vendor labor, frustrated neighbors, and a building manager fielding complaints. That experience made one thing clear to Tony and his cofounder Andrew: finding the vendor was only half the problem.
What Makes Us Different
Finding a vendor is only half the problem.
That first job taught us something important. The real friction isn't finding someone who can do the work. It's making sure they can legally and safely enter your building to do it. Kindo handles both.
Compliance-First Onboarding
Vendors must submit insurance documentation that meets your building's own requirements — most NYC buildings ask for commercial general liability, workers' compensation, and an additional-insured endorsement naming the building. We assemble it into a Vendor Access Packet so your building manager can review and approve entry in minutes, not days.
Group-Rate Engine
We aggregate demand across your building to reach commercial-grade pricing. The more neighbors who participate, the better the rate — and you see the pricing tier before you commit.
Neighborhood Accountability
We track reliability across every job in every neighborhood. When a vendor delivers for one neighbor, they earn the trust of the entire building. Accountability is our currency.
The Insight
A typical New York condo or co-op has the purchasing power of a commercial property, but no infrastructure to act on it.
Think about it. Every residential building in New York has dozens, sometimes hundreds, of individual homeowners who all need the same services: AC maintenance, window cleaning, plumbing inspections, dryer vent cleaning. Individually, you're paying retail and navigating compliance on your own. But together? You could command wholesale rates that rival commercial contracts.
That gap between what your building could get collectively and what you're paying individually is exactly what Kindo closes. The buying power of a skyscraper. The ease of a concierge.
The Team
Built by residents, for residents.
Tony
The owner who wanted his AC serviced and helped his neighbors get better prices.
Andrew
The engineer who knew it could be done better and help to make it happen.
What We Believe
Four principles that shape everything we build.
Neighbors First
Every decision starts with what's best for residents, not vendors or our own margins.
Radical Transparency
You see every price, review, and document — and exactly how we make money: vendors pay Kindo a 10% commission on completed work, never you. No hidden fees, no surprises.
Compliance Is Non-Negotiable
Insurance documentation isn't a nice-to-have. In New York, it's the difference between a routine job and a seven-figure liability.
Better Together
The math is simple: when neighbors move as one, prices drop, service quality rises, and vendors compete for your business.
Curious what Kindo can do for your building?
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Currently available in New York City