Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. construction technology scaleup Dozr, which offers an online marketplace and white-labelled software for heavy equipment rentals, has shuffled its leadership ranks.
After nearly a decade as CEO, Dozr co-founder Kevin Forestell has transitioned to chair of the company’s board. Dave Frazier, who has a background in both construction and tech and is based in Utah, has joined as president to lead Dozr going forward. Forestell announced these moves in a recent LinkedIn post, where he said he is taking some time to consider his next move.
“It just felt like now is the right time to move on and try something new.”
Kevin Forestell,
Dozr
“I’m super proud of the accomplishments that we’ve [had] over the last decade,” Forestell told BetaKit in an interview. “It’s been a lot of fun, a lot of really, really hard work, but it just felt like now is the right time to move on and try something new.”
Forestell noted that, under his leadership, Dozr built a platform that has expanded across North America, grew its revenue by 890 percent, and cracked Deloitte’s lists of fastest-growing tech firms.
Since its $27.5-million CAD Series B in early 2022, Dozr has made some more inroads in the United States (US) and doubled down on its marketplace. The company has also raised additional capital to fuel its growth and undergone layoffs aimed at streamlining its operations and scaling its business more efficiently.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Dozr chief growth officer Kathryn Kennedy also departed this month and joined Texas-based property management software company Storable. Kennedy declined to comment on why she moved to BetaKit. Forestell said she left to pursue another opportunity a bit closer to her home in the US.
Forestell said the transition to chair was a mutual decision between him and Dozr’s board of directors that will give him more time to spend with family, including his three young children. He said he had been discussing a potential move and searching for a successor for some time before landing on Frazier, who Forestell said he found, recruited, hired, and helped onboard.
“I’m incredibly excited and honoured to join Dozr as president,” Frazier told BetaKit. “This is a company that’s truly changing the game in equipment rentals. With strong momentum, a clear vision, and a foundation built by Kevin’s leadership, I’m looking forward to leading the next phase of growth, leveraging technology and [artificial intelligence] to scale, enhance the customer experience, and drive real operational efficiency.”
RELATED: The year quiet quitting got loud for tech execs
Frazier’s LinkedIn profile indicates he joined Dozr in March and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. His 20-year career spans construction, tech, and consumer goods. He began working in construction with Utah contractor Okland Construction before moving into tech, and has served in leadership roles at firms like ClearStone Windows, Wasatch Mountain Excavating, InXPress, and Lendio.
Dozr’s new president most recently founded and led Utah-based direct-to-consumer orthodontics business Smilelove as CEO, and served as CFO at San Francisco-based workplace management software firm Kadence, a role Frazier left in March.
“I really think that David’s the right person to lead Dozr into the phase of growth,” Forestell said, citing Frazier’s “really unique background” in both construction and tech. “We really respect that combination of his experience.”
Founded in 2015 by a group of construction and tech veterans, Dozr claims to offer the largest online marketplace for heavy equipment rentals. The company helps hundreds of thousands of contractors find the equipment they need from more than 4,000 suppliers across North America, enabling them to search, compare prices, and book online through its marketplace.
Dozr also offers WebStores, white-labelled software to help rental businesses integrate Dozr’s e-commerce capabilities into their existing website and enterprise resource planning systems.
RELATED: Dozr raises $27.5-million Series B to support US expansion
In February 2022, Dozr announced a $27.5-million Series B from Builders VC, BDC Capital, and BaseCamp Equity Partners to fuel its US expansion plans, bringing its total funding to $44 million. At the time, Dozr had approximately 65 employees and planned to double the size of its workforce to 130 by the end of that year.
Forestell’s LinkedIn post about the company’s leadership changes states that Dozr has raised more than $60 million in growth capital to date, which indicates that the scaleup has closed an additional $16 million or so since its Series B financing.
Forestell confirmed to BetaKit that Dozr has secured an undisclosed combination of previously unannounced equity funding from existing investors and debt from RBC since its Series B to support tech-enabled growth initiatives.
In the interim, tech and venture capital market conditions have deteriorated, and Dozr has altered its staffing plans. In February 2023, The Waterloo Record reported that Dozr had laid off 20 percent of its staff. Meanwhile, LinkedIn Insights indicates that Dozr’s headcount has dropped 23 percent to 63 employees since April 2023.
“I really think that David’s the right person to lead Dozr into the phase of growth.”
Forestell confirmed that Dozr made layoffs during this time, but declined to share exact figures. “For us, it’s been an operational excellence play, an operational efficiency play,” he said, noting that the company has invested in automation and continued to grow throughout this period.
The outgoing CEO described Frazier as Dozr’s “principal leader” going forward, and said Dozr has no immediate plans to hire another CEO or chief growth officer. He expects Frazier’s time working in construction will help him understand Dozr’s clients, and anticipates that his tech background will aid Dozr’s efforts to adopt AI.
Forestell noted that from Utah, Frazier will be a bit closer to Dozr’s clients, most of which are in the southern US across Florida, Texas, and California. While Dozr has a new US-based leader, Forestell said that the company remains headquartered in Canada and plans to stay here, with the majority of its team still located in the Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto areas.
Forestell’s departure as CEO marks the latest in a wave of leadership changes across Canadian tech since the beginning of last year, a trend BetaKit covered in more detail in late 2024.
Feature image courtesy Dozr.