Empowering small businesses to dream bigger
Cactus was founded by two-time Y Combinator founders Ajith Govind and Avinash Joshi, who have spent their careers building technology to eliminate everyday operational bottlenecks. After working with hundreds of small business owners, they saw a common problem: time spent on administrative tasks was keeping great service providers from growing their businesses.
They created Cactus to change that. Designed as an AI copilot for home service businesses, Cactus expands a company’s capacity without increasing headcount — helping owners scale faster, serve more customers, and operate with the efficiency of a much larger team.
Founded by entrepreneurs, the mission is simple: to help home service businesses succeed and thrive, no matter their size. Cactus brings clarity, automation, and peace of mind to busy teams, removing daily bottlenecks so owners can focus on growth.
From first call to booked job, Cactus delivers consistent, reliable experiences so businesses can win more work and build stronger customer relationships.
About Cactus
Cactus is a 24/7 AI call center built for home service businesses. The platform uses conversational AI to answer calls, qualify customers, book jobs, and follow up automatically, helping business owners capture more leads and retain more clients—all without hiring additional staff. Based in San Francisco, Cactus is redefining how service businesses operate by giving owners time back to focus on what they do best: serving their customers.
Cactus is backed by Y Combinator, the accelerator behind category-defining companies like Airbnb, Coinbase, and Stripe.
Values that define us
Product at core
Our mission is to go beyond utility, sparking joy and delivering real value with product. We design with the user in mind, ensuring that every interaction is meaningful, intuitive, and leaves a smile!
One team always
We are the best of the best, holding ourselves to the highest standards. We push together for collective success — when one wins, we all win; when one struggles, we all step up to support.
Being nice
We default to kindness and respect in every interaction. It’s about choosing empathy, practicing patience, and creating a culture where being nice isn’t just encouraged—it’s our natural instinct.
Focus and execute
We focus on action and rapid learning, using each experience to drive growth. By building, testing, and refining quickly, we ensure every step brings us closer to bigger impact.
Meet the founders
Ajith Govind
Co-Founder & CEOAjith is a serial entrepreneur, YC alum, and data science expert who co-founded Turing Labs, achieving Series A funding with over $20M raised from top investors like Insight Partners. He has a proven track record of driving impact, having delivered $65M+ in value while working closely with leading 15 of the Top 20 CPGs. He also played a pivotal role in optimizing $1B marketing spends for Dell globally while he was in Mu Sigma.
With a background in Computer Science from Amrita University, where he earned national recognition at IBM's "The Great Mind Challenge," Ajith is also a patent holder in advanced machine learning, AI, and causality algorithms. He has deep expertise in cutting-edge techniques like Deep Learning, Neural Networks, and Bayesian Networks, and excels in building scalable cloud-based applications.
Driven by a passion for solving real-world problems and creating technology that makes a difference, Ajith is committed to building impactful products and companies. Outside of work, he enjoys playing soccer with his 2-year-old and exploring great food with his wife, blending his love for innovation with his dedication to family.
Avinash Joshi
Co-Founder & CTOAvinash is a passionate programmer and tech enthusiast with a deep love for solving problems through code. His fascination with technology began early, and over the years, he has developed his skills across various programming languages and platforms. Guided by the mantra "It’s possible," Avinash prioritizes doing what's right over what's easy, embracing challenges as opportunities for growth. A strong believer in the power of the majestic monolith, he particularly enjoys working with Ruby on Rails.
Avinash holds a bachelor's degree in information technology from Amrita University and a master's degree in computer science from UT Dallas. He was the founding member of the Free and Open Source (FOSS) chapter at Amrita, where he evangelized open-source technologies. His dedication led to winning Sun Microsystems' Code For Freedom contest and contributing to the OpenSolaris codebase. In 2009, Avinash was the only student from India selected to represent the country at the prestigious JavaOne conference in San Francisco, inspiring many students to contribute to open source.
Beyond coding, Avinash stays grounded in his spiritual roots, which shape his approach to life. He cherishes time with his wife and kids, loves exploring new places on road trips, and keeps a pulse on the latest tech gadgets, always eager to tinker and learn.
Join our team
We're always on the lookout for talented individuals who share our passion for creating impactful products and solutions. Here, we set ambitious goals, offer generous and transparent compensation, and focus on creating an environment where you can perform at your best. We're committed to supporting each other's growth while pushing for collective success.
Interested? Reach out to us at [email protected]