On Demand Home Service Startups Flourishing This Festive Season

BANGALORE: The season of festivals not just brings celebrations and fun but also the pain of revamping, cleaning, painting, and repairing the homes on Dussehra and Diwali. However, a new class of startups is here to solve your problem Housejoy, Zimmber and Timesaverz.

As the season of festivals is approaching, tenants and house owners are turning to these startups to meet their household problems. The demand for this class of companies is on the rise and festive packages offered by them are stiffening the competition in the market. The services provided by them start from 1500.

"Intensive cleaning tends to happen in India from festival to festival, and working professionals are getting comfortable hiring professionals to clean their homes," said Anubhab Goel, cofounder of home services marketplace Zimmber. Zimmber has witnessed surge of three folds in the demand during the festive season which has brought it to more exposure.

"This October and November, we are targeting around 4,000 orders a day, through our Home Refresh package, which combines home cleaning, painting and repairs for the festive season," said Goel. Zimmber is investing 40 percent of the budget in marketing alone to attract customers from Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Thane and Pune and is aiming to have a monthly gross merchandise value (GMV) of 10 cr by March 2016.

Similarly, Timesaverz has made a presence in seven cities and is looking forward to accomplish 100,000 orders that would reach revenue of 6 cr in the festive season. "We have bundled up everything that customers engage in during Diwali, including home cleaning, painting, dry cleaning of their upholstery etc. Customers can choose either all or a combo of a few," said Debadutta Upadhyaya, founder of Timesaverz.com.

Timesaverz has partnered with Star Bazaar to spread awareness about the services they provide.

As the number of internet users is surging rapidly in India, these startups are looking forward to reap benefits. "It is this segment which is also exploring the home-based services through the internet. The segment including home cleaning has been highly disorganized and as consumers get educated about the difference between your maid cleaning and a deep cleaning by professionals, there is a huge opportunity," said Ankit Shah, vice-president, Unilazer Ventures, which invested 15 cr in Timesaverz in August.

Housejoy is yet another startup in this league that has added housecleaning recently to the category of services they offer. "We have offered a package of deep cleaning plus pest control. Also we have offered the option of part cleaning, which has been demanded by many customers," said Arjun Kumar, cofounder of Housejoy.

"We have seen 100% growth in the last four months and the home cleaning vertical is seeing a 60% rise in demand," he added.

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