A brand new Seattle startup needs you to place down the hammer, rake or no matter different software you would possibly use to do work from home, and as a substitute choose up your cellphone and ship a textual content.
Rising from stealth mode, Welcome House is a predictive house upkeep service which helps manage contractors and schedule neighborhood offers. Each Tuesday, customers are alerted to a deal accessible the subsequent day, corresponding to yard cleansing, window washing, automobile detailing and extra. The corporate also can facilitate random jobs, such because the hanging of a tv.
Welcome Residence’s co-founders are Ashley Michael, a longtime actual property and property administration skilled, who’s serving as CEO, and Patrick Opie, a tech veteran who beforehand began Scout9, a platform that helps information customers via the varied phases of pet possession.
“Everyone seems to be simply so busy,” Michael mentioned in regards to the inspiration for beginning her personal firm.
Tackling a to-do checklist or determining who to contact for assist might be overwhelming for householders, she mentioned. Welcome Residence bases its predictive upkeep mannequin on seasons, geographical location, neighborhoods, kinds of houses in these neighborhoods, and extra.
The corporate just lately wrapped up a take a look at pilot the the Seattle neighborhoods of Magnolia, Queen Anne and Madison Park the place they realized, amongst different issues, that householders typically postpone even the only upkeep duties. The startup needs to be the center individual whose job it’s to search out the very best contractors at the very best value.
“It’d be excellent to have 20 houses in a neighborhood which might be recurrently opting into the totally different offers,” Michael mentioned, “and likewise assist them with duties which may not be on the deal circuit.”
Slightly than construct an app, Welcome Residence facilitates communication with its “home managers” through textual content. As an illustration, leaves piling up? Ship a textual content to that supervisor to begin the method for getting them cleaned up.
Welcome Residence makes cash by taking a small share of the worth paid by prospects to contractors for any companies. Proper now the corporate is just not charging contractors any payment to be related to its weekly offers because it seeks to encourage these contractors to supply the very best service at the very best value.
A variety of tech firms have tried to sort out house repairs and companies. Welcome Residence says it takes what it calls a “extra predictive and proactive method” to house upkeep than firms corresponding to Porch, TaskRabbit or Thumbtack. Michael referred to as opponents’ method “reactive,” that means when householders have a necessity they search out a service supplier.
“WelcomeHome brings house companies to the doorways of householders in a really handy, enjoyable, and economical method,” she mentioned.
Michael referred to as Seattle a troublesome marketplace for beginning a house companies firm as a consequence of the price of labor and supplies. However whilst different startups and tech firms face the financial uncertainty of a downturn, she’s optimistic about getting up and operating in Seattle.
“I believe that lots of people are pulling tasks or not selecting to do house remodels or there’s just a bit little bit of a shift occurring in that business,” Michael mentioned. “So it’s an excellent time for us to have loads of service suppliers to select from and convey higher offers.”
Welcome Residence, which employs simply Michael and Opie, has raised some pre-seed funding from investor Tihan Seale, however it didn’t share particular numbers. Apart from Seattle, the startup plans to function in Phoenix after which Denver.