Helpling, the leading global platform for on-demand home services, announced the acquisition of Hassle.com, the European pioneer of this business model and market leader in the UK. This move sees them become the clear leader for online booking of household services outside the U.S.
Both Helpling and Hassle.com enable customers to book a local, vetted cleaner online or via a smartphone app. This means people no longer have to search through classified ads or ask their friends for recommendations. Consumers can now find a local cleaner they trust online and within just a few clicks.
Hassle.com has pioneered this business model in Europe since its inception in December 2012. It has enjoyed first mover advantage in UK and Ireland and is the clear market leader there. Hassle.com is backed by Accel Partners – investors in Facebook, Etsy, Spotify, Dropbox and Atlassian. Hassle.com has also cultivated customer and cleaner loyalty and has worked for the past three years to ensure it has the best in class product experience.
Helpling’s expertise is scale and speed. Helpling launched one year ago and is already leading across 12 markets . Helpling has raised EUR 56,5M from Lakestar, Mangrove, Rocket Internet and other high profile investors to continue its path of sustainable growth.
These complementary strengths of Helpling and Hassle.com will allow the company to further expand its leadership position globally. Together Helpling and Hassle.com will operate in 14 markets holding strategic cities such as London, Berlin and Paris. Over the next months, the company will deploy substantial capital to increase its leadership position with a clear focus on organic growth.
Benedikt Franke, co-founder of Helpling: “Hassle.com is not only the market leader in the UK and Ireland, it also has a very sophisticated technology and has built a brand that people associate with trust, quality and safety. The team has done a great job to pioneer this model and to establish Hassle.com as one of the leading home-cleaning marketplaces in Europe. We are very much looking forward to working together. Our partnership combines Hassle.com’s expertise with Helpling’s international footprint and access to capital. It creates a very exciting global proposition and makes our combined company the strongest player in this space.”
Alex Depledge, co-founder of Hassle.com: “It is no secret that Helpling moves fast. Their ability to scale and raise money is impressive. This, combined with our ability to build depth in market and user loyalty, means that together we are a force to be reckoned with. Our goal from the beginning has always been to become a global domestic cleaning brand. This strategic move takes us significantly closer to that goal.”
Hassle.com will continue to operate under its established brand. The founding team of Hassle.com will take on additional responsibilities within the group as global co-founders. Alex Depledge will assume CEO responsibilities for English-speaking markets, Jules Coleman will become group CPO and Tom Nimmo will lead the Hassle.com platform as CTO. Accel Partners will join the board of investors of Helpling.
Philippe Botteri, Partner at Accel Partners, comments: “This deal sees two world-beating teams come together to become the most dominant player outside of the US. Accel Partners is also excited to join the board and be part of the outstanding group of investors who will continue to champion the Helpling and Hassle.com founding teams to become the leading global player in this space.”
Henrik Persson, Partner at Lakestar, said: “Home services is the next big frontier for online marketplaces. By combining the two best and largest companies in Europe we create a clear market leader. We are excited to continue to build this winning company together with the outstanding team and some of the smartest market place investors around.”
This deal follows significant milestones for both companies. Helpling recently launched in the UAE and Singapore. A few weeks later Helpling announced its Series-B funding of EUR 43M. Hassle.com launched in Paris in October last year, quickly becoming one of the dominant players. The company has been hailed one of the hottest technology firms in Europe and in June 2015 it won Best Sharing Economy company at the TechCrunch Europas.
