[Updated 7/8/2014, 1:15pm. See below.] Handybook is putting its new venture investment to work.
The New York-based startup, which helps consumers arrange for cleaners and other home services, is expanding its offerings to London.
Handybook was founded in Boston in 2012 by Harvard Business School students who later moved the company to New York. Its app and website let people search for and book cleaning and home improvement services, including painting, plumbing, moving, and electrical work.
[Added comments from Oisin Hanrahan.] CEO and co-founder Oisin Hanrahan says his company expanded to London because of its dense population of young, busy professionals who want to hire help for household jobs, and the robust yet fragmented, local market of service providers. “This is all about allowing consumers to save time [on tasks],” Hanrahan says. “At the other end, it’s about getting service pros work.”
Tuesday’s news of expansion follows a $30 million Series B round closed last month, which was led by Steve Case’s Revolution Growth. So far, Handybook has raised $49 million total from institutional investors including Highland Capital Partners and General Catalyst Partners, and individuals such as David Tisch.
The expansion into London includes plans to open an office in the district of Shoreditch. In April, Handybook made a significant push, making its service available in 12 additional cities including Denver; Austin, TX; Portland, OR; Sacramento, CA; Las Vegas; Orlando, FL; and Toronto.
With Tuesday’s expansion, Handybook is available in 27 cities around the world. Hanrahan says the company will spend the coming months getting more entrenched in the new territories it has spread to. “We’ve been growing incredibly fast over the past six months,” he says. “We’re basically seven times bigger today than we were the first week of January.”
