Craftwork, a Charlotte home-painting startup, recently landed a $7 million funding round, its largest to date, with plans to grow its headquarters operations and expand its team of painters.

Why it matters: Craftwork is a local small business success story. Its growth comes at a challenging time for startups, as investors have generally been cautious and picky about where to put their money.

• "We're hoping to be the largest painting company in Charlotte within the next 18 months," chief growth officer Joey Skavroneck tells Axios.

By the numbers: Craftwork's $7 million Series A funding round was led by Slow Ventures with participation from Lachy Groom, Four Cities Capital, Forerunner Ventures, Pioneer Fund, and Y Combinator, according to the company.

• Craftwork was one of only a handful of local firms to have participated in Y Combinator, an esteemed startup accelerator out in Silicon Valley.

Context: Launched in 2023 by Skavroneck, Tim Griffin, Suzanne Griffin and Mike Bifulco, Craftwork aims to modernize the home painting process through proprietary software by providing homeowners with an instant painting quote online to schedule their projects.

• The startup employs its own full-time painters, which is not necessarily typical in the painting industry. But its founders say it benefits both its staffers and its customers by ensuring top talent. Plus, it ensures stability and a career trajectory for its painters.
• Craftwork will expand its HQ operations (including by building out its product and engineering team), grow its painting teams and acquire other painting businesses with its latest funding round.

Between the lines: Craftwork had planned to expand beyond Charlotte by now (it pushed its Atlanta launch twice) but the company keeps seeing room for investment here, Skavroneck says.

• "By the end of this year, our goal is to double down in the Charlotte market," he said. "Charlotte has continued to deliver what we needed to stay here."

Full story about Craftwork's growth

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Mecklenburg County is now collecting food waste — such as eggshells, coffee grounds, meat and fruit/vegetable peels — for composting at select full-service recycling centers.

How it works: You can toss your food scraps into a bin and bring it to special food scrap containers at Hickory Grove (8007 Pence Road) and Compost Central (140 Valleydale Road).

• The program is free for county residents.
• "If it's edible, it's acceptable," the county said in a statement last week.

The following are examples of material that's not accepted:

• Cans of food or food packaging.
• To-go drink cups, containers and utensils.
• Paper towels and napkins.
• Zip-lock bags, snack wrappers and other plastic bags.

What's next: Mecklenburg County Solid Waste plans to expand this service to the Foxhole and North Mecklenburg Disposal and Recycling Centers by summer 2025.

• The composting is part of the county's "enhanced recycling program," which means it also now accepts materials such as white foam, shredded paper, textiles and clean wood.