FiXA,<\/a> an online tool that teaches homeowners to DIY their repairs and matches them with local, vetted, and often women contractors when they need a little extra help.<\/p>\n An everyday AI tool <\/p>\n
FiXA began as a school project. Eburuoh and Casino met while students at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and both enrolled in an AI Ventures course at MIT, where their final project had them using AI to solve an everyday problem.<\/p>\n
But the pair was more ambitious than that: They partnered to create an AI tool that could analyze dilapidated buildings in Nigeria to see if they could be developed into affordable housing. This was admirable, but not what the assignment called for. \u201cOur professor was like: You\u2019re trying to save the world. We just need you to solve one problem,\u201d Eburuoh recalls.<\/p>\n
So, they narrowed their focus to home repair and found their backgrounds complimented one another. Casino had studied architecture and how technology could aid people in design and construction. Eburuoh had worked with her father, a real estate broker in Southwest Philadelphia, and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. She loved seeing the impact purchasing a first home had on families.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to see FiXA becoming the first call for Philadelphia-area homeowners when something goes wrong in their home.\u201d \u2014 Schola Chioma Eburuoh<\/p>\n
They scrapped the international idea and instead built an AI tool that could analyze repairs and offer advice. They turned in their final project in December 2024, graduated in May 2025, and kept thinking about what they\u2019d built.<\/p>\n
So many people had come up to them after their presentation and said, \u201cI need this,\u201d Eburuoh recalls. \u201cHomeowners came up to us, and contractors themselves were like, I need this to give to a homeowner to troubleshoot before I come onto site.\u201d<\/p>\n
That spring, they set to work on the business in earnest. They began with interviewing more than 100 people \u2014 homeowners, property managers, contractors in and around Philadelphia, since Eburuoh has knowledge of the industry landscape \u2014 about their home repair challenges. Next, they found a group of mostly women to test the product.<\/p>\n
By summer 2025, formed a partnership with Habitat for Humanity in Delaware County and hosted basic home repair workshops, using their tool for reference. They launched the tool to the public on March 2. Eburuoh is the company\u2019s CEO. Casino its chief technology officer.<\/p>\n
For the homeowner who was never taught these things <\/p>\n
When users go to FiXA\u2019s website, they\u2019re asked if they want to DIY their repairs or hire a contractor. Then, they\u2019re asked to describe their problem or upload pictures, say, of a leaking pipe or busted window. Then, AI analyzes the inputs and sends videos and written how-to guides to help them fix it. Feeling overwhelmed? You can always opt to connect with a contractor who can handle the repairs and the platform will connect you.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe personalize it so you are able to choose whether you\u2019re a visual person and you want a video, or if you just want to read,\u201d Eburuoh says.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s it. Four steps total. The process and the interface are intentionally straightforward. \u201cRepairs,\u201d Casino says, \u201care already overwhelming.\u201d They wanted FiXA\u2019s design to be underwhelming and easy to navigate by comparison.<\/p>\n
\u201cFiXA is an empowerment tool,\u201d Casino adds. \u201cIt\u2019s meant to empower you to take action and to help you be knowledgeable [about your home].\u201d<\/p>\n
Even if a user ends up hiring a contractor, the initial analysis and DIY guides can help them feel more confident describing their issues. During the trial phase, they found about 65 percent of users needed a contractor to help with repairs.<\/p>\n
Though homeowners are an obvious audience for the tool, FiXA can also help renters who might be having a problem better understand what the issue is \u2014 so they can be more informed when they ask their landlords to make repairs. In an emergency, FiXA can sort through its contractors to find someone who can respond ASAP.<\/p>\n
The service is free for users. FiXA earns money through commissions when users purchase tools and materials via the repair guides, and by charging contractors who get jobs from the platform modest ($25 to $75) lead generation fees. Eburuoh and Casino vet each contractor, interviewing them, calling three references and checking to make sure their licenses and insurance are up to date. They can connect folks with plumbers, electricians, HVAC specialists, contractors, appliance repairmen and women, handyperson services, carpenters \u2014 just about anyone who can fix something in or on a house.<\/p>\n
Mary Richter is a contractor and managing partner with Home Advantage Builders, a company that uses FiXA. She became a carpenter after working in journalism and realizing she wanted a more active, better paying job. She appreciates that FiXA exists to help women and people who feel anxiety. She remembers being intimidated herself when she went back to school to study carpentry and had to work in largely male-dominated environments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a huge demand for female contractors, because, for so many reasons women may be uncomfortable with a male contractor,\u201d Richter says. \u201cSometimes just having another woman around makes you feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n
A brand-new go-to for Philly homeowners <\/p>\n
FiXA launched at the beginning of March. In its first two weeks, nearly 800 people visited FiXA\u2019s site and 64 accessed repair guides and three chose to connect with a contractor. They launched with four contractors in the network, serving Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery, Chester and Bucks counties. They\u2019re working with partners, like Habitat for Humanity or small mortgage lenders to get contractor recommendations and grow their contractor network. Eburuoh and Casino vet each contractor, interviewing them, calling three references and checking to make sure their licenses and insurance are up to date<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still early for the business, so they\u2019re in the proof-of-concept stage right now. Their target demographic is people with contractor anxiety. That tends to be women, who might worry about having an unknown man in their home to do repairs, but it can also extend to first-time home buyers and immigrants, who might be trying to manage a language barrier when looking for and hiring a contractor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s for anybody with contractor anxiety,\u201d Casino says. \u201cWe want this to be a tool that really diminishes stress about maintenance.\u201d<\/p>\n
All of the contractors they work with are women or family-owned, which can help ease anxiety about hiring a contractor for many homeowners. Eburuoh and Casino hope that FiXA will one day be the first stop for Philly homeowners when they need to make repairs. Once the company gets its sea legs in Philly, they want to expand to other cities, like Boston or Baltimore, which tend to have a similar housing stock.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love seeing Philadelphia homeowners using this tool and getting their problem solved,\u201d Eburuoh says. \u201cWe want to see FiXA becoming the first call for Philadelphia-area homeowners when something goes wrong in their home.\u201d<\/p>\n
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MORE PHILADELPHIA BUSINESSES FOR GOOD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Southwest Philadelphia native Schola Chioma Eburuoh was a graduate student living in Boston, her refrigerator broke down.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2936,69,71,70,2653,10095],"class_list":["post-180166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-business-for-good","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-southwest-philadelphia","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}