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Santa Monica-based Washio, the Uber-for-laundry startup as some dub it, recently scored $2.25 million in seed funding backed by celebrity investors, like Ashton Kutcher and Nas.
Washio’s app allows for the convenience of a 24-hour turnaround for laundry service in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“We’re focused on growth and that’s our number one objective,” said co-founder and CEO Jordan Metzner.
With plans to expand nationwide, those funds sure will come in handy. Metzner said the company will be ready to announce a new market sometime later this month. Some of Washio’s tweets might indicate the company is ready to make moves East? Their LinkedIn account signals hiring in D.C., too!
Washio currently has 14 employees and is adding more, especially on the engineering end. Besides their in-house team, Washio employs a team of "ninjas," whose job is to revolutionize the dirty side of things. The ninja is the one who comes to users’ homes to pick up their dirty laundry and bring it back later in the day.
“It’s exciting. I think that we have a unique business doing what we’re doing,” Metzner said. “On-demand services like ours are growing massively.”
The company is also targeting employers’ dirty laundry. According to TechCrunch, the company has offered Washio credits to employees of startups and, in some cases, laundry is an employee perk.
Even though the company has enjoyed tremendous success in San Francisco, Metzner and Washio are Los Angeles proud. Metzner, who was born in Los Angeles, is quick to say the company’s roots are firmly rooted here - and its roots will stay here even while expanding operations to the other coast this year.
