DUST BUSTERS: TWO N.C STATE UNIVERSITY DROPOUTS ARE CLEANING UP WITH A SUBSCRIPTION-SERVICE BUSINESS THAT TAKES SOME PAIN OUT OF A TEDIOUS TASK.

• Author: Ranii, David
• Position: NC TREND: Tracking tech

Thad Tarkington and Kevin Barry were undergraduate business students at N.C. State University in the spring of 2013 when they faced a crucial career choice. Their fledgling startup, an online subscription service for home air filters, had been accepted by a business accelerator based in Greenville, S.C. But to take advantage of the $20,000 in seed funding and mentoring offered by the accelerator, the duo would have to drop out of school and relocate to the Palmetto State for several months.

They decided to go for it, reverting to a "freshman-in-college lifestyle for a year" and concluding they could resume their education if their business, FilterEasy, didn't work out, Tarkington says. The bet has paid off: "So far, we haven't had to come back to college," says Barry, now 26.

After roughly tripling its staff in 2017 and doubling last year, FilterEasy has about 130 employees. About 100 work in North Carolina at its headquarters in downtown Raleigh, where it is rapidly running out of space, and at a fulfillment center in Wilson. This year, it expects to add another 50 to 70 workers. FilterEasy doesn't disclose revenue specifics but says growth has been on par with the expansion of its employee roster. To date, the company has raised $18.3 million in funding, including a $6.9 million round in October led by Raleigh-based One Better Ventures. An undisclosed portion of that money enabled FilterEasy to acquire three smaller competitors.

"We love the team," One Better partner John Replogle says. "They may be young in age, but they have learned a lot. There are a lot of people their age today who got their college degrees, may have a master's in business, and don't have nearly the business experience these guys have right now." Tarkington, 27, is the CEO. Barry is the chief operating officer.

Cofounders Capital, a Cary venture capital firm, first invested in FilterEasy in 2015. When he met the founders, general partner David Gardner wanted to test their mettle. "I gave them a bunch of ideas and stuff they needed to do to test out the assumptions in their model," he says. "We got together [again] in a week or two, and they had done everything we had discussed and they were pushing me for more. That's a really good sign when you're dealing with entrepreneurs."

FilterEasy's goal is eliminating much of the hassle of regularly changing air filters for heating and air conditioning systems. Customers use the company's website to select the number of...