Homejoy Explained

Homejoy, Inc.
Type:Private
Location City:San Francisco, California
Location Country:United States
Key People:Adora Cheung (CEO)
Aaron Cheung (VP of Growth)
Industry:Cleaning services
Services:Home services
Num Employees:100+

Homejoy, Inc. was an online platform which connected customers with home service providers, including house cleaners and handymen.[1] The company was based in San Francisco.[2] Homejoy served the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom[3] for a total of over 31 major cities. It charged a variable rate of $25–$35 per hour (or £13 an hour in the UK).[4] Homejoy shut down on July 31, 2015.[5]

History

Homejoy was founded in 2010 by siblings Adora and Aaron Cheung, who worked as CEO and VP of Growth, respectively.[6] Originally, the company was named Pathjoy.[7] [8]

Co-founder Adora Cheung did the first few cleaning jobs herself, and until late 2013 continued to work at least one cleaning job per month.[9] [10]

Homejoy received an undisclosed amount of funding from Y Combinator in March 2010, but began operations in 2012. Paul Graham said Homejoy was the fastest growing Y Combinator company.[11]

The company raised another $1.7 million in seed funding in early 2013. The seed investors included Andreessen Horowitz,[12] First Round Capital, Resolute.VC, and other individuals and groups. Since then, there have been two other rounds of fundraising conducted by Homejoy (Series A and Series B). Series A was conducted in October 2013, and the amount invested during this round has not been publicly disclosed. After Series B, led by Google Ventures,[13] completed in early December 2013, the total raised from both rounds was around $38 million.[14] [15] [16]

In April 2014, Homejoy expanded into the United Kingdom, its first market outside North America.[17] It charged £13 per hour, of which cleaners earned between £7 and £9.5.

On July 17, 2015, Homejoy announced that it would cease operations on July 31, 2015. The company cited difficulties in maintaining profitability, as well as lawsuits over whether its workers are contractors or employees.[18] Google hired portions of the company's technical staff.[19]

Operations

Homejoy was run by a team of over 100 employees, and worked with thousands of independent professional cleaners in their cities of operation as of early 2014. They charged a uniform rate of $25 an hour[20] for service. Cleanings were fully bonded, and cleaners contracting on the platform had to go through a screening process which involved third-party background checks and a certification process.

Homejoy's company culture focused on the use of technology to increase operating efficiency and offer on-demand services.[21] [22] [23] Investors have also credited Homejoy for creating jobs in a slow job market by connecting their service to the demand and expanding their scope beyond traditional house cleaning companies.[24] [25] [26]

Homejoy Foundation

In December 2013, Homejoy announced the establishment of the Homejoy Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports initiatives for veterans and their families.[27] [28] [29]

Controversies

A former employee claimed there were other reasons Homejoy shut down besides the worker classification lawsuits, including a costly international expansion and the leakage of its best workers to direct employment arrangements with its own (now former) clients.[30] Some questioned growth of the customers by giving a steep $19 deal for the first cleaning, where other companies charge $85.[31]

In October 2015, three months after Homejoy shut down, Aaron Cheung, the Co-Founder of Homejoy and brother of Adora Cheung, bought and used the Homejoy customer database to start a similar company, Fly Maids. Cheung admitted that he was behind the startup after a Homejoy user found his credit card and profile information on the Fly Maid site — without even signing up. Cheung decided to shut down Fly Maids after the news became public to avoid another lawsuits due to seemingly improper usage of Homejoy customer database.[32] [33]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Cohan, P.S. . Disciplined Growth Strategies: Insights from the Growth Trajectories of Successful and Unsuccessful Companies . Apress . 2017 . 978-1-4842-2448-9 . November 12, 2017 . 44–46.
  2. Web site: Online home-cleaning service Homejoy expands rapidly, hits 31 cities. Tam. Donna. 4 October 2013. CNET. 26 January 2014.
  3. Web site: Google-backed US start-up Homejoy opens London headquarters . London Evening Standard . 10 April 2014 . 25 May 2014 . Williams-Grut, Oscar.
  4. Web site: Homejoy Launches in Second Canadian City After Success at Home. Czikk. Joseph. 20 September 2013. Betakit. 26 January 2014.
  5. News: Homejoy Shuts Down, Citing Worker Misclassification Lawsuits. Huet. Ellen. Forbes. 2018-05-17. en.
  6. Web site: Homejoy. AngelList. 27 January 2014.
  7. Web site: Home Cleaning Service Pathjoy Becomes Homejoy, Raises $1.7M From Andreessen Horowitz And Others. Ha. Anthony. 5 March 2013. TechCrunch. 27 January 2014.
  8. Web site: PathJoy brings its economical on-demand maid service to LA and Seattle. Carney. Michael. 17 January 2013. PandoDaily. 27 January 2014.
  9. Web site: The Homejoy Creation Story: It All Started With A Dirty Bathroom . Fast Company . 1 April 2014 . 25 May 2014 . Naasel, Kenrya Rankin.
  10. News: Homejoy, The Startup That Makes All New Hires Scrub Toilets . Fast Company . 13 February 2014 . 25 May 2014 . Truong, Alice.
  11. Web site: Female Founders. Graham. Paul. January 2014. 2016-06-29.
  12. Web site: Local Heroes: The Public Companies of Tomorrow. Jordan. Jeff. 19 December 2013. Andreesen Horowitz. 27 January 2014.
  13. Web site: House Cleaning Startup Homejoy Expands To London . Forbes . 10 April 2014 . 25 May 2014 . Robehmed, Natalie.
  14. Web site: Homejoy Raises $38M As It Looks To Expand Beyond Home Cleaning. Ha. Anthony. 5 December 2013. TechCrunch. 27 January 2014.
  15. Web site: Homejoy Raises $38M to Bring $20/Hour Home Cleaning to the Masses. Gannes. Liz. 5 December 2013. All Things D. 27 January 2014.
  16. Web site: Homejoy Raises $38M for House Cleaning On Demand. Kolodny. Lora. 5 December 2013. The Wall Street Journal. 27 January 2014.
  17. Web site: Homejoy Comes To Clean Up The UK, Its First Market Outside North America, For £13/Hour . TechCrunch . 9 April 2014 . 25 May 2014 . Lunden, Ingrid.
  18. Web site: Homejoy Shuts Down After Battling Worker Classification Lawsuits. Re/code. 17 July 2015 . Vox Media. 17 July 2015.
  19. Web site: Google Hires Tech Team From Homejoy, Readies Leap Into Home Services Market. Re/code. 17 July 2015 . Vox Media. 17 July 2015.
  20. Web site: Get Your Place Cleaned. 17 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141126085314/https://www.homejoy.com/. 26 November 2014. dead.
  21. Web site: Behind The Scenes At Homejoy, A Cleaning Startup That Says It's Really A Tech Company. Ha. Anthony. 18 August 2013. TechCrunch. 27 January 2014.
  22. Web site: The Uber for Apartment Cleaning. Posterli. Bianca. 19 March 2013. Glam. 27 January 2014.
  23. Web site: Homejoy, Online House Cleaning Service, Aims To Be The 'Uber' Of Its Field. Schwartz. Carly. 7 May 2013. Huffington Post. 27 January 2014.
  24. Web site: The Upside Of A Bleak Job Market: Millennials Creating Opportunities. Pennington. Maura. 26 September 2013. Forbes. 27 January 2014.
  25. Web site: Google Pours Millions Into New Tech Gold Rush: Housecleaning. Wohlsen. Marcus. 5 December 2013. Wired. 27 January 2014.
  26. Web site: Homejoy sweeps up millions of dollars to liberate you from the burden of brooms. Grant. Rebecca. 5 December 2013. VentureBeat. 27 January 2014.
  27. Web site: YC startup Homejoy establishes charitable foundation to help veterans. Grant. Rebecca. 27 November 2013. VentureBeat. 27 January 2014.
  28. Web site: About Us . https://web.archive.org/web/20150717194251/https://www.homejoy.org/about . dead . 17 July 2015 . Homejoy Foundation . 27 January 2014 .
  29. Web site: Meet 6 Entrepreneurs Who Use Tech To Change The World. Larson. Selena. 25 January 2014. ReadWrite. 12 February 2014.
  30. Why Homejoy Failed — Backchannel. Farr. Christina. 2015-10-26. Wired. 2016-06-29.
  31. Web site: What Really Killed Homejoy? It Couldn't Hold On To Its Customers. Huet. Ellen. . 2016-06-29.
  32. Web site: Customers of dead house-cleaning startup Homejoy are being funneled to a copycat site - Business Insider. 2015-10-29. en-US. 2016-06-29.
  33. Web site: Homejoy Mysteriously Relaunches As Fly Maids, Customer Confusion Ensues. 2015-10-29. en-US. 2016-06-29.

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