Having graduated from the TechStars London accelerator programme, Hassle.com has fuelled future growth by closing a first major institutional funding round.
Set up by Jules Coleman, Tom Nimmo and Alex Depledge in 2012, Hassle.com matches users with what it describes as ‘trusted’ local cleaners for the home.
Inspiration for the business came when Coleman was trying to find a piano teacher in 2011, but found out of date listings with little information attached.
With the $6 million (£3.5 million) investment, Hassle.com has outlined plans to expand in major cities in the UK and across Europe.
Depledge, co-founder and CEO of Hassle.com, says, ‘We don’t offer a “standard clean” as traditional agencies do as we recognise city goers are particular about their homes and have all manner of cleaning quirks.
‘Our platform is geared so that our cleaners’ profiles can easily showcase their expertise making it easy for our customers to find their perfect match.’
To help with early development, Hassle.com secured a place at the TechStars London accelerator programme (formerly called Springboard when it was part of the process). In its current form the start-up provides services for users in London and Manchester but has plans to roll out into other locations.
The process claims to complete a search and booking in a few minutes
Philippe Botteri, partner at Accel Partners, comments, ‘We have been very impressed by the strength of the founding team and their passion for building a simple and exciting service for both cleaners and consumers.
‘The momentum since launch has been staggering and we are very excited to support Hassle’s fast expansion across the UK and Europe.’
Alongside the three co-founders, the Hassle.com board also contains founder and chairman of Hailo Ron Zeghibe, who sits as chair of the business. David Pritchard, founder and managing director of OpenTable Europe, and ignite100 director Paul Smith serve as advisors.
Previous funding rounds for hassle include a very small seed deal worth $23,000 in April 2012 and a larger $225,000 commitment in April 2013.
The transaction also comes amongst rumours that rival platform Mopp is about to close its own Series A deal.
