Laundryheap, the on-demand laundry and drycleaning platform founded in the UK in 2014, recently announced a $3.5m Series A funding round led by Sova VC.

This raise follows years of steady growth where Laundryheap has focused on building a sustainable model that centres around repeat custom. A surge in interest following the outbreak of the pandemic has fuelled further market growth and led to a series of successful expansions to new markets during 2020, including: the USA, Singapore, Sweden and across the Middle East. The platform now has a presence across eleven international markets.

Across its US and Asian markets, Laundryheap has seen particularly rapid growth since March. In the US, where the platform is now operational in five cities, the business is reporting month on month growth of over 30 per cent. In the Middle East, where Laundryheap has launched in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, customer growth has tripled in the last six months.

During the pandemic, Laundryheap introduced new ‘virus wash’ services and extra-hot cleaning offerings, as well as expanded support for their B2B clients. They’ve also focused on making their supply chain more sustainable through green cleaning techniques and low-carbon transport.

This investment was led by Sova VC, a London based venture capital firm launched in December 2020 with plans to invest over €50 million of capital in building a portfolio of more than 20 early-stage technology companies.

Laundryheap will use the funding to accelerate its expansion to additional international markets, whilst retaining its focus on sustainable growth and profitability.

Deyan Dimitrov, CEO and founder of Laundryheap, said: “We’ve never focused on the kind of ‘growth at any cost’ expansion that other on-demand businesses have and our approach to fundraising reflects this. We bootstrapped for the first few years of our operation and didn’t raise our Seed round until we were confident in our model. That’s why this is a really exciting chapter for us. We’re raising this Series A because it’s the right time to focus on more rapid expansion and the round will enable us to consolidate our position as the best on-demand laundry platform in the market. We’re delighted that Sova VC has led this round and we’re looking forward to working with them closely over the coming months and years.”

Alexander Chikunov, Partner at Sova VC, said: “Laundryheap stood out to us as a company with excellent unit economics, the ability to scale (even during a difficult period), and an impressive senior leadership team. It’s a great example of the type of company we want to work with and fits perfectly with our focus on high-potential technology companies with a particular emphasis on B2B and B2B2C marketplaces and software platforms.

“We look forward to working with Deyan and the team to consolidate their position as the world’s fastest growing laundry and dry cleaning marketplace and grow its market share in the years ahead.”

Deyan Dimitrov, CEO and founder of Laundryheap