A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally
RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – LOCAL SERVICES
- Honor, an in-home care startup for seniors raised $42M in Series B funding round led by Thrive Capital. Link
- Local services startup YoudDo.com raised $6.2M in Series C found round led by Sistema Venture Capital. Link
- On-demand laundry service startup Laundrapp raised $6.6M funding from undisclosed investors. Link
- Local services startup ProntoPro raised $3.3M funding led by Immobiliare.it Link
- Fixico, a car repair startup raised $2.24M funding led by Orange Growth Capital. Link
- On-demand lawn care service startup LawnGuru raised $1M in seed funding round led by Sierra Wasatch Capital. Link
- Toronto-based home services startup raised $1M funding. Link
- Angies’ List, a consumer-review platform for local services launched new offering of accessing verified reviews for free. Link
SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND
Zonar (2016, London) – App-based platform to find local service providers.
Halolife (2015, SF) – Online platform for funeral and creamation services.
LEADER BOARD – LOCAL SERVICES
Horizontal
Angie’s List (1995, Indianapolis, IPO) – Listing platform with reviews to find local service professionals in home, health care and automotive services. Went public in November 2011.
Yelp (2004, SF, IPO) – Platform that publishes crowd-sourced reviews about local businesses such as restaurants, shopping, beauty and fitness and local services. Went public in March 2012.
58Daojia (2014, Beijing, $300M) – Online platform for multi-category O2O local services including cleaning, babysitting, automobile servicing, beauty care etc. Backed by Alibaba, KKR and others.
Thumbtack (2008, SF, $274M) – Marketplace to hire local service professionals such as plumbers, photographers, tutors and gardeners. Backed by Sequoia, Tiger Global, Google Ventures and others.
Home Services
Handy (2012, NYC, $112M) – Closed marketplace for home services like Plumbing, Electrical, Handyman and Cleaning. Backed by TPG Growth, Fidelity, Highland, General Catalyst and others.
Improvements
To8to (2008, Shenzhen, $216.5M) – Online platform for home decoration and renovation services. Backed by Sequoia, Matrix Partners and 58.com.
Houzz (2009, Palo Alto, $214M) – Platform for home remodeling and design that allows home owners discover ideas and connect to home professionals. Backed by Sequoia, GGVC, NEA and others.
Porch (2012, Seattle, $100M) – Online home improvement network that connects home owners with the home service professionals. Backed by Valor Equity, Lowe’s and others.
Duocai360 (2013, Beijing, $36M) – Online platform that provides consumers with home improvement services. Backed by Chuangxin.
Cleaning
Helpling (2014, Berlin, $64M) – Online marketplace connecting customers with cleaning providers. Backed by Rocket Internet, Kite Ventures, Lake Star and others.
Home King (2010, Xiamen, $11M) – Online platform that provides on-demand services such as home cleaning and electronics items cleaning. Backed by SAIF, Haier and Nuts Capital.
Ayibang (2013, Beijing, $10M) – Marketplace for booking house cleaners based on location. Backed by Vertex Ventures and Ceyuan.
Lawn Care
TaskEasy (2011, Salt Lake City, $22M) – Online platform for home exterior services like lawn care, snow removal and pool maintenance services. Backed by Delta, Grotech Ventures and others
Lawnstarter (2013, Blacksburg, $7M) – Online platform to find and book lawn care contractors. Backed by Binary Capital and Techstars.
Painting
PaintZen (2013, NYC, $12M) – Closed marketplace that offers residential and commercial paintingservices. Backed by Bullpen capital, Sterling Equities, Angel Pad, Expansion VC and others.
Personal Services
Massage & Beauty
Wahanda (2008, London, $154M, Acq.) – Appointment booking platform for spas, salons and health centers. Acquired by Recruit Holdings in May 2015.
Beauty
Helijia (2013, Beijing, $55M) – Online platform that provides on-demand manicure services. Backed by IDG ventures and CBC Capital.
StyleSeat (2011, SF, $41M) – Appointment booking platform for beauty and wellness professionals. Backed by LSVP, 500 Startups, Slow ventures and others.
GlamSquad (2013, NYC, $24M) – Closed Marketplace for booking of on demand in home beauty artists. Backed by SoftBank, Lerer Hippeau, Montage Ventures, BBG and New Enterprise Associates.
Massage
Soothe (2013, LA, $48M) – Closed marketplace connecting customers to independent massage therapists. Backed by Riverside and IDG ventures.
Fitness & Training
ClassPass (2011, NYC, $84M) – Membership program for fitness classes across multiple gyms and studios. Backed by Google Ventures, Thrive Capital, General Catalyst and others.
Quancheng Relian (2014, Beijing, $17M) – Mobile app for booking gyms and fitness centers with subscription passes. Backed by Matrix Partners and Legend Capital China.
Thuzio (2012, NYC, $21M) – Online marketplace that connects users with current and retired professional athletes to book local experiences. Backed by Mayfield, Expansion VC and others.
CoachUp (2011, Boston, $9M) – Marketplace that connects athletes with private sports & fitness coaches. Backed by Point Judith Capital, General Catalyst, Breakaway Ventures and others.
Laundry
Edaixi (2013, Beijing, $123M) – Mobile marketplace that offers on-demand laundry/dry-cleaning pick-up and delivery service in China. Backed by Matrix, Baidu and others.
Washio (2013, LA, $14M) – Mobile marketplace that offers on-demand laundry/dry-cleaning pick-up and delivery service. Backed by Canaan Partners.
Auto Services
Tuhu (2011, Shanghai, $165M) – Online platform/mobile app based marketplace that sells auto parts and connects owners with repair services. Backed by Joy capital, Welkin Capital and others.
Xiaokakeji (2014, Hangzhou, $94M) – Mobile-based car servicing platform that connects car owners with offline auto after-sales service providers. Backed by GGVC, GSR Ventures and others.
Roadside Assistance
HONK (2014, Santa Monica, $14M) – Mobile based platform for on-demand services such as tow, tire change, jump start, fuel and lock out. Backed by Double M, Venture51 and Expansion VC.
Caregivers
Care.com (2006, Waltham, IPO) – Marketplace to find child care, pet care and senior care services. Went public in January 2014.
Pet Care
Rover.com (2011, Seattle, $51M) – P2P marketplace for pet sitting services. Backed by Menlo Ventures, Foundry Group, Petco.com and others.
DogVacay (2012, Santa Monica, $47M) – Marketplace connecting pet owners with sitters in neighborhood areas. Backed by Dag ventures, First Round, GSV Capital and others.
Senior Care
Honor (2014, SF, $62M) – Web and app-based platform that allows users to find and book caregiver for elderly people. Backed by RockHealth, a16z, Homebrew, True Ventures and others.
Babysitters
Sittercity (2001, Chicago, $44M) – Marketplace to find and book babysitters and nannies. Backed by Apex VC, Bright Horizons, Point Judith Capital, Pritzker group and others.
UrbanSitter (2010, SF, $23M) – App based platform that connects parents with babysitters through social recommendations. Backed by DBL, First Round, Menlo, Canaan and Rustic Canyon partners.
Leader board includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.
For latest updates, visit Local Services feed.