On-Demand Home Services Startup Handybook Raises $30M From Steve Cases Revolution Growth

Handybook hopes to provide users with a way to hire cleaners or a handyman with the push of a button on their mobile phones. The company today is announcing it has raised a $30 million round of funding from Revolution Growth to support its expansion in new markets.

One of a growing number of startups offering the ability to book services online or through mobile apps, Handybook connects its users with professionals who can perform a variety of duties around the home. That starts with cleaning, but also extends to light plumbing and electrical work.

Over the past few months, Handybook has been adding services in a number of new cities. In April, the company expanded to a dozen new marketsand now operates in 28 markets across the U.S. Business has grown by 10 percent week over week, Hanrahan said, and the companys transaction value is 6.5-7x what it was at the beginning of the year.

According to co-founder and CEO Oisin Hanrahan, many of those new markets are growing much more quickly than its earlier launch areas did. Much of that is due to lack of competition and existing home services infrastructure in those cities. In many places, offering the ability to book cleaning or a handyman is still pretty new.

At the same time its expanded across the country, the company has also been increasing its headcount to support its growth. Handybook has grown from about 40 people at the beginning of the year to 120 today, Hanrahan told me.

The new money comes from Revolution Growth, the venture fund founded by Steve Case, Donn Davis, and Ted Leonsis. The round is on top of $12 million in funding that Handybook had raised from General Catalyst, Highland Capital, David Tisch, and Bullhorn CEO Art Papas, among others.

According to Hanrahan, Handybook decided to go with Revolution due to the experience that Case and Davis had with expanding local services businesses.

For us, it was about working with people who had an understanding of how local works, Hanrahan said. The guys just got it and understood how important it was to be hyperlocal.

For Handybook, winning local means getting the most supply of service pros in a given area. The company wants to get to a place where it has 100 percent availability within a three-hour window of someone opening the app, Hanrahan told me.

Of course, Handybook isnt alone in the home services market. Last December, Homejoy raised $38 million and has also grown rapidly since then. And there are rumors that Amazon is looking to go after the local services market.

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On-Demand Home Services Startup Handybook Raises $30M From Steve Cases Revolution Growth