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Handy Technologies, Inc.
Type of site
Subsidiary
Founded2012; 12 years ago (2012)
Headquarters
134 West 29th St.
New York, NY 10001
U.S.
Founder(s)Oisin Hanrahan, Umang Dua, Ignacio Leonhardt, Weina Scott
IndustryOnline marketplace
ServicesHome cleaning, handyman tasks, home improvement services, assembly
Employees200 (2021)
ParentAngi
URLhandy.com

Handy Technologies, Inc. is an online two-sided marketplace for residential cleaning, installation, and other home services.[1] Founded in 2012 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the now New York–based company operates services in United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. The company was acquired by ANGI Homeservices in October 2018.

History

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Handy was founded in summer 2012 as Handybook by Oisin Hanrahan, Umang Dua, Weina Scott (a computer science graduate from Harvard University) and Ignacio Leonhardt (a graduate of Duke University and the London School of Economics). In fall 2012, it moved its headquarters from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Manhattan.[2][3] The online household services marketplace they created follows a sharing economy approach and a business model that has been compared to Uber.[4] The Handybook name was chosen as it was a place to book handyman and cleaning services.[5]

Handybook was launched with incubation support from the Harvard Innovation Lab.[6] In October 2012 Handybook raised US$2 million in seed financing from General Catalyst Partners and Highland Capital Partners.[7] The following year in October 2013, Handybook raised further 10 million dollars from existing investors[8] along with David Tisch's BoxGroup and other investors.[6][9] The same month Handybook began talks to acquire the San Francisco–based Exec, a similar service for hiring people to complete household tasks. In January 2014, Handybook completed the acquisition of the company which helped establish its West Coast presence.[10] By May 2014, the company was employing nearly a hundred people.[3]

In June 2014, Handybook raised $30 million in a series B round of investment led by Revolution Growth.[11] By this point, the company had expanded operations to twenty-six cities in North America, including Vancouver and Toronto. It also reported that the service was being used to complete about 10,000 jobs per week.[9] In September 2014, Handybook changed its name to Handy.[12][13] A week after the rebrand, Handy acquired Mopp, a similar London-based service, at an undisclosed valuation.[14] After the acquisition, Mopp continued to operate under the same name, adding the subtitle “powered by Handy” to its brand. Mopp’s founders Pete Dowds and Tom Brooks stayed on to continue Handy’s expansion in the European market.[15]

In November 2014, Handy was sued over a number of alleged labor violations, including that the company was deliberately misclassifying its employees as independent contractors.[16][17]

In March 2015, Handy announced another round of funding led by TPG Growth, which raised 15 million dollars.[18] In May 2015, TechCrunch reported that Handy was in talks to acquire its rival Homejoy.[19][20] However, Homejoy shut down in July 2015 without being acquired amid worker classification suits.[21] Immediately following the announcement of Homejoy’s expected shutdown, Handy offered a $1000 signing bonus to any Homejoy workers looking to switch to Handy’s service.[22] In June, just a month before, Handy had announced completing its one millionth booking on the platform.[23][2]

As of November 2015, the company planned to include the delivery and assembly of furniture as some of the services offered.[24] Handy also announced its series D round of $50 million. This round of funding led by Fidelity Management & Research included contributions from several of the company’s previous investors.[25]

In October 2018, ANGI Homeservices which owns HomeAdvisor and Angie's List acquired Handy.[26][27]

Operations

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Handy operates in 28 cities in the United States,[28] [29] and several cities in Canada, and the United Kingdom.[12][30] As of July 2015, it employs a full-time staff of at least 160 and has engaged about 10,000 cleaners to work on its platform.[31] According to Handy, about 80% of its bookings come from repeat customers.[23]

As of November 2016, Amazon’s Alexa allows users to book services through Handy by using the Amazon Echo’s voice-activated features.[32] In May 2017, the company partnered with the online retailer Wayfair to offer installation and assembly as an added feature when purchasing furniture through Wayfair.[33] In 2018, the company similarly began offering additional in-home installation services to Walmart retail customers.[34]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Newenham, Pamela (November 30, 2015). "Handy – the app that is cleaning up around the world". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  2. ^ a b Subbaraman, Nidhi (2015-11-23). "On-demand cleaning service Handy now allows customers to tip through its app". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  3. ^ a b Naasel, Kenrya Rankin (2014-05-14). "How To Find Skilled Workers In The Gig Economy". Fast Company. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  4. ^ "There's an app for that". The Economist. December 30, 2014. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  5. ^ Simon, Ruth (June 10, 2015). "Startups fight over names". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  6. ^ a b Grant, Rebecca (October 22, 2013). "Big dollars for dust: Home services startup Handybook raises $10M". Reuters. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  7. ^ Alspach, Kyle (October 16, 2012). "Handybook raises 2m to expand". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  8. ^ De La Merced, Michael J. (October 22, 2013). "Handybook, a Housecleaning Start-Up, Raises 10 million". DealB%k. The New York Times. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  9. ^ a b Griffith, Erin (June 11, 2014). "Handybook is 'Uber for house cleaners'". Fortune. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  10. ^ Wortham, Jenna (January 15, 2014). "Handybook Buys Exec in a Deal for the On-Demand World". Bits. The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  11. ^ Bertoni, Steven (June 11, 2014). "Handybook Raises $30 Million In Revolution-Led Series B". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  12. ^ a b Lawler, Ryan (September 16, 2014). "Handybook Rebrands As Handy In An Effort To Become Amazon For Home Services". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  13. ^ McGarry, Caitlin (September 16, 2014). "Handy rebrands to be the name you remember for help around the house". PCWorld. Archived from the original on 2018-06-06. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  14. ^ Lawler, Ryan (September 22, 2014). "Handy Acquires London-Based Home Services Startup Mopp To Quickly Grow Its UK Business". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  15. ^ Woods, Ben (2014-09-22). "US-based Domestic Services Platform Handy Buys Mopp". The Next Web. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  16. ^ Kosoff, Maya (November 12, 2014). "Two Workers Are Suing A Cleaning Startup Called Handy Over Alleged Labor Violations". Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
  17. ^ Huet, Ellen (November 18, 2014). "Contractor or Employee? Silicon Valley's Branding Dilemma". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  18. ^ Reader, Ruth (March 30, 2015). "Handy sweeps up $15M to grow its home maintenance platform, hires Tumblr VP as new CTO". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  19. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (May 20, 2015). "Handy In Talks To Acquire Homejoy As Home Service Startups Consolidate". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  20. ^ Said, Carolyn (May 28, 2015). "Cleaning and repairs startup Homejoy is up for sale". SFGate. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  21. ^ Deamicis, Carmel (July 17, 2015). "Homejoy Shuts Down After Battling Worker Classification Lawsuits". Recode. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  22. ^ Deamicis, Carmel (July 17, 2015). "Handy Offers $1,000 Signing Bonuses to Homejoy Cleaners". Recode. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  23. ^ a b Deamicis, Carmel (June 16, 2015). "Cleaning and Home Services Startup Handy Hits One Million Bookings". Recode. Archived from the original on December 20, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  24. ^ Kosoff, Maya (November 2, 2015). "Handy, a startup that sends someone to clean your home, just raised $50 million and is valued at half a billion dollars". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  25. ^ Kokalitcheva, Kia (November 2, 2015). "Handy raises $50 million months after home cleaning rival shuts down". Fortune. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  26. ^ "News | Investor Relations | Angi Inc".
  27. ^ "ANGI Homeservices Annual Report". 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  28. ^ Bertoni, Steven (June 13, 2017). "Handy CEO Oisin Hanrahan's Secrets To Build And Scale A Massive Marketplace". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  29. ^ Cleaning Mate, Team (May 31, 2024). "12 of Canada's leading cleaning firms and startups for 2024". MyCleaningMate. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  30. ^ Hartmans, Avery (October 15, 2016). "How once troubled cleaning startup Handy paused the clock and revamped its workaholic culture". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  31. ^ Griswold, Alison (2015-07-24). "Dirty Work". Slate. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
  32. ^ Chang, Lulu (2016-11-19). "Amazon Alexa's newest skill lets you book a cleaning service". Digital Trends. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  33. ^ Rogers, Adam (September 29, 2017). "Struggling With Ikea Furniture? There's an App for That". WIRED. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  34. ^ Perez, Sarah (March 19, 2018). "Walmart to sell Handy's in-home installation and assembly services in over 2,000 stores". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
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