Completing the laundry task can feel burdensome. It demands considerable time and effort. Not many people enjoy this activity.
It comes as no shock that start-ups have cropped up to relieve you of that burden—physically speaking. Investors are queuing up to support both emerging and established contenders in this space.
Eleven-month-old NoScrubs Has recently secured $2 million in a pre-seed funding round headed by Initialized Capital for its on-demand laundry delivery service. Additionally, in late February, Rinse secured a $23 million Series D funding round led by LG Electronics to keep expanding its 12-year-old company, offering services such as dry cleaning.
Although their approaches differ, both firms represent recent instances of laundry-focused start-ups securing investment from venture capitalists. They aim to thrive in an industry where previous ventures have faced setbacks.
Early Instacart employee Matt O’Connor , CEO of NoScrubs, and Sudhanshu Gautam The CTO, as shown above, launched the startup around a year ago with the aim of developing a quicker and cost-effective laundry service. According to the firm, they guarantee delivering neatly folded washes just a few hours after collection. Users have the option to pay per use or enroll in a subscription plan.
As of now, NoScrubs is exclusively accessible in its hometown of Austin, having served almost 1,000 distinct clients, according to an exclusive interview with Massima by O'Connor. (I personally tried the service temporarily in early 2024 due to our home renovation causing us to lose use of our washing machine and dryer.)
Rinse, marketing itself as the "Uber of laundry," was established by CEO Ajay Prakash , CTO Sam Cheng , and James Joun In 2013, it has garnered more than $70 million in funding since its launch.
San Francisco-based Rinse currently operates in several major U.S. cities. It pledges to turn around laundry or dry cleaning within as little as 24 hours (for an extra fee) but has a standard three- to four-day turnaround. It prides itself on hiring its workers as employees rather than making them independent contractors.
NoScrubs
NoScrubs came into being when O'Connor was leading geographical growth efforts at Instacart, where he was among the initial 20 workers. His dissatisfaction arose from his subpar laundry services, finding them both costly and time-consuming.
NoScrubs thinks the quick turnaround time for their services provides them with a competitive advantage. They have chosen specific sites across Austin, which O'Connor refers to as strategic points, aimed at reducing travel distances post-pickup. These spots consist of both approved laundromats and shared laundry facilities within residential buildings.
The firm intends to extend its presence throughout Texas and "into much of the U.S." by the close of 2026, as he mentions. Currently, NoScrubs employs 13 people.
Rinse
The concept for Rinse originated when Prakash, Joun—both previous Dartmouth peers—and Cheng set out on an endeavor to transform this task into a technology-assisted service.
Prakash came from a startup environment, whereas Journ’s parents had run a traditional brick-and-mortar dry cleaning business in South San Francisco for over twenty years. Before officially launching the venture, they tested their idea among friends and started the company through self-funding.
Ever since its inception, Rinse claims to have laundered over 100 million pieces of clothing. Although it mainly focuses on a direct-to-consumer approach, it’s currently expanding its B2B segment as well, catering to businesses like apartment complexes, coffee shops, and wellness centers.
Moving forward, Prakash states that Rinse’s subsequent move will be to obtain and rebrand physical laundry facilities and dry cleaning shops. The company also plans to keep broadening its geographical presence.
Currently, it has around 600 valets and approximately 100 non-valet employees on its payroll.
Similar to NoScrubs, this platform provides both a subscription model and a more expensive pay-per-use alternative.
Investors
Zoe Perret, an initial partner at NoScrubs, thinks the company distinguishes itself through its approach of utilizing idle washing machines in laundromats and apartment buildings instead of building its own facilities.
Despite launching very recently, the early success in their primary market indicates a clear route for expansion while keeping robust financial metrics," she stated. "As they keep demonstrating the viability of this business approach, they will be able to efficiently replicate it to enter additional regions.
Frontier Venture Capital participated alongside Initialized in leading NoScrubs' pre-seed funding round.
Meanwhile, LG is helping promote its investment By providing Rinse’s services to buyers of its washers and dryers. Given that the U.S. has numerous laundry facilities and dry-cleaning services, market size was valued at $15.75 billion in 2024, indicating that this is a substantial sector capable of supporting numerous participants. However, not every company within this field has thrived. For instance, Washio ceased its activities in 2016. Rinse scooped up And in 2014, with backing from Y Combinator, door-to-door laundry service Prim announced it was shutting down .