Korean On-Demand Cleaning Startup WaHome Scores $1M In Seed Funding –
Summary
WaHome, a Seoul-based on-demand home cleaning service, has landed $1 million in seed funding, which it will use to hire more engineers, build features for its Android and iOS apps, and launch in more Korean cities before tackling expansion in Hong Kong and Japan. Since many Korean housecleaning services also operate around call centers, which cost a membership fee to join but are often slow to confirm appointments, Lee and Hahn decided a more efficient app-based booking system would also prove successful. Hahn and Lee are quick to address comparisons to HomeJoy, the San Francisco home cleaning startup that raised $40 million and expanded into 35 cities before shutting down in July after being hit with multitude issues, including worker classification lawsuits and poor customer retention rates, that made it difficult to get followup funding. Cleanings cost about $40 per session and WaHome is passing all of that to cleaners, which means that each takes home about $1,300 a month after taxes (the company plans to make revenue by increasing prices after gaining more market share). The startup has to compete against traditional house cleaning call centers, but its founders are confident that people will turn to WaHome in order to avoid annoyances like the subscription fees both customers and cleaners have to pay.