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Jim Buzhardt is founder and CEO of Lave, a Nashville-based, short-term rental cleaning and turnover platform. LAVE
By Ella Castronuovo – Reporter, Nashville Business Journal
Mar 2, 2026
Story Highlights
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Jim Buzhardt has launched Lave, a tech-powered cleaning platform for Nashville short-term rentals.
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Nashville is home to more than12,000 active short-term rentals.
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A number of local investors are backing the company.
A local entrepreneur is meeting Nashville’s short-term rental cleaning needs.
Last week, Jim Buzhardt announced the launch of his company, Lave (stylized as LAVE), a tech-powered cleaning and turnover platform built specifically for short-term rental owners and managers.
The Nashville-based company works to protect host ratings and revenue through automated scheduling, photo-verified cleaning and issue reporting, according to a news release.
“Short-term rental hosts today are managing hospitality businesses, not just properties,” Buzhardt, founder and CEO of Lave, said in the release. “When a cleaner misses a turnover or a preventable issue goes unreported, the consequences show up immediately in guest reviews, ratings and, ultimately, lost revenue. Lave was built to eliminate that risk by combining professional infrastructure with technology-driven accountability.”
Focused on the Nashville short-term rental market, Lave connects directly with booking calendars to automatically schedule cleanings between guest stays. Each turnover cleaning uses a property-specific checklist, with documented photo verification.
The company is backed by a group of local investors, including Brian Taylor, commercial real estate broker; Jamie Lee, founder of Southern Grist Brewing; John Curley, director of the Dettwiller Foundation; Dave Killean, health care operations executive; and Justin Wilson, a partner with Hall Strategies. Investment amounts weren't disclosed in the release.
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Wendy Silva is Lave’s operations manager. LAVE
Wendy Silva, who has over two decades of cleaning operations experience in Nashville, will serve as Lave’s operations manager.
Music City was ranked as the fifth fastest-growing short-term rentals market in the United States in 2024, the release noted, and now has more than 12,000 active short-term rentals. The average cost of a standard short-term rental cleaning in Nashville ranges from $150 to $195.
“We’re not positioning ourselves as a cleaning vendor,” Buzhardt said. “Lave is a trusted operational partner that helps hosts protect their reputation and income.”
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Local entrepreneur Jim Buzhardt has announced the launching of Lave, a technology-driven short-term rental cleaning and turnover business.
According to a release, Lave (stylized as “LAVE”) is designed to protect positive host ratings and generate revenue via automated scheduling, photo-verified cleaning and proactive issue reporting.
The service industry business is financially backed by commercial real estate broker Brian Taylor, who is a partner in the venture with Buzhardt; Jamie Lee, founder of Southern Grist Brewing; John Curley, a former beverage industry executive and current director of the Dettwiller Foundation; Dave Killean, a local healthcare operations executive; and Justin Wilson, a public relations executive with Hall Strategies. Each is locally based and joined by some silent Nashville investors.
The release does not note the investment amount.
Buzhardt, who serves as Lave Chief Executive Officer, brings more than 25 years of experience building service-based businesses. Earlier in his career, he turned what started as a $4,000 side hustle into janitorial company B&F Cleaning Services, before selling the venture.
The release notes Wendy Silva will serve as Lave operations manager. Silva has more than 20 years of business leadership and cleaning operations experience in Nashville. A former cleaning service franchise owner, she managed commercial and hospitality cleaning contracts, overseeing staffing, scheduling, payroll and quality control.
“Short-term rental hosts today are managing hospitality businesses, not just properties,” Buzhardt, who holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Alabama, said in the release.
“When a cleaner misses a turnover or a preventable issue goes unreported, the consequences show up immediately in guest reviews, ratings, and ultimately lost revenue. LAVE was built to eliminate that risk by combining professional infrastructure with technology-driven accountability.”​
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Veteran entrepreneur Jim Buzhardt has officially launched LAVE, a Nashville-based, technology-driven short-term rental (STR) cleaning and turnover platform designed to protect host ratings, revenue, and reputation through automated scheduling, photo-verified cleaning, and proactive issue reporting.
Buzhardt, founder and CEO of LAVE, brings more than 25 years of experience building and scaling service-based businesses.
Earlier in his career, he turned a $4,000 side hustle into a multimillion-dollar janitorial company before successfully scaling and selling the venture.
"Short-term rental hosts today are managing hospitality businesses, not just properties," said Buzhardt. "When a cleaner misses a turnover or a preventable issue goes unreported, the consequences show up immediately in guest reviews, ratings, and ultimately lost revenue. LAVE was built to eliminate that risk by combining professional infrastructure with technology-driven accountability."
LAVE is fully focused on the Nashville STR market, having built out a local leadership team which includes Wendy Silva as operations manager. Silva has more than two decades of business leadership and cleaning operations experience in Nashville. She is a former cleaning service franchise owner where she managed commercial and hospitality cleaning contracts, overseeing staffing, scheduling, payroll, and quality control to ensure consistently high service standards.
Launching with a committed and experienced leadership team allows LAVE to offer a level of sophistication beyond what is typically seen in the industry. LAVE integrates directly with booking calendars to automatically schedule cleanings between guest stays and each turnover is completed using property-specific digital checklists and documented with photo verification, while trained cleaning professionals conduct quality inspections and flag maintenance or guest-experience issues in real time — all with the goal of preventing negative reviews before they occur.
"As Nashville's STR market matures, professionalized infrastructure like LAVE is essential to protecting asset performance,” said Taylor. "Technology-enabled services that directly safeguard revenue and reputation represent the future of property operations. There is no one better than Jim to lead that charge with LAVE."
The company is backed by a group of local investors including long-time Nashvillian, community leader and commercial real estate broker Brian Taylor, who is a partner in the venture with Buzhardt. Other LAVE investors include Jamie Lee, founder of Southern Grist Brewing; John Curley, former beverage industry executive and current Director of the Dettwiller Foundation; Dave Killean, local healthcare operations executive; and Justin H. Wilson, a public relations executive; among other Nashville investors.
LAVE is entering the market at a time when Nashville's booming tourism economy and evolving STR regulations are placing increased operational demands on hosts and property managers, notes Taylor.
Nashville was ranked the #5 fastest growing STR market in the U.S. in 2024 and now has over 12,000 active STRs, which is a growth of 7,000 STRs since 2022.
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Buzhardt reiterated that the company's mission is rooted in lessons learned from decades of scaling operationally intensive service businesses.
"In my previous company, success came down to systems, accountability, and consistency," Buzhardt said. "LAVE applies those same principles in a tech-enabled way to the STR market. We're not positioning ourselves as a cleaning vendor, LAVE is a trusted operational partner that helps hosts protect their reputation and income."
LAVE's platform includes professionally laundered linens, vetted and highly compensated cleaning professionals, and its proprietary Lave Assure on-time cleaning guarantee, as well as Lave Odor Guard™, an odor monitoring and prevention system that helps ensure a consistent five-star guest experience.
LAVE is now onboarding short-term rental hosts across the Nashville metropolitan area. For more information, visit trustlave.com or follow LAVE on Instagram at @trustlave. ​
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