Chinese on-demand laundry app Edaixi (E-washing) announced today that it has secured $100 million USD in series B funding led by Baidu, followed by Matrix Partners China and SIG.
Born out of laundromat franchise Rong Chain Laundry, Edaixi is a Uber-modeled, on-demand laundry pickup service for busy urban citizens. Users can select pickup times and pay on Edaixi’s app or its WeChat-based service account. The platform will collect your laundry at the appointed time and have them delivered to your door in the next 72 hours.
Edaixi charges a flat 99 RMB ($16 USD) per laundry bag, which may hold 33 skirts or 124 scarves as claimed by the company. Laundry for individual pieces ranges from 9RMB to 29 RMB according to size.
Currently the service has amassed more than 5 million users in 16 Chinese cities, seeing over 100,000 orders per day.
With the new funding, the startup plans to cut its 72-hour service timeframe to 48 hours. The company’s board chairman Zhang Rongyao indicated that the cash will also be used for supporting its customer subsidy program, recruiting talent and delivery personel.
Aside from laundry, Edaixi also provides on-demand cleaning for luxury products, air conditioners, furniture covers, leather goods and shoes. In the future, they plan to extend their O2O reach with home appliance maintenance, shared kitchens and even elderly care services.
As on-demand services are taking hold in transportation, it’s no surprise that more startups are sprouting up to solve the day-to-day chores of China’s growing metropolitan middle class. The on-demand laundry industry is among the most hotly contested sectors by local companies and investors. 24tidy, a leading player in the arena, raised an eight-digit Series A financing last year. Alibaba also launched a similar service on Taobao Life to tap the booming market.
Chinese companies and investors are currently throwing money at the online-to-offline sector (O2O) which is seen as the future model of e-commerce in the country. After receiving Tencent’s angel round in July 2014, Edaixi has raised a $20 million USD series A one month later. Baidu’s investment in the company is a continuation of its endeavor to stay in the O2O game.
Image credit: Edaixi