Washio and The Rise of On-Demand Service Apps

No one likes Laundry Day. Between work and social obligations, our down-time is valuable and schlepping laundry back and forth to a laundromat or dry cleaner isn’t exactly how we’d like to spend it. Fortunately, there’s an app for that, and it’s name is Washio.

Washio is an on-demand laundry and dry cleaning service app that lets you schedule pick up and delivery for your dirty clothes. No more schlepping. No more fighting over washers and dryers. No more detergent or separating or folding. Just a quick tap on the Washio app can save you hours of free time on your nights and weekends.

Washio currently operates in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C, but will likely expand operations to other major US cities, including Chicago, New York, Boston, Austin, Denver Seattle, and more.

With the help of Canaan Partners, Washio raised $10.5 million in Series A funding to expand operations and hire more engineers and drivers to support their expansion.

Interested? Here’s how it works:

Washio’s app lets you set up an account with your name, pick-up address, and credit card info. With that account, you can use the app to reserve a laundry pick-up. For $1.60/lb, a ‘Washio ninja’ will pick up, wash, and fold your clothes and then deliver them to you at your specified time the next day.

Washio also offers dry cleaning and shirt pressing services, which are priced individually by item.

Growing Trend: On-Demand Service Apps

Washio joins the ranks of a host of other on-demand service apps that reflect a growing trend in the digital marketplace. On-Demand is quickly becoming the way of the world, with services like Netflix, Uber, MakeSpace, Munchery, Instacart, DoorDash and many, many more.

The world (especially as it pertains to goods and services) is literally at our fingertips. We live in a time of completely unprecedented convenience, where we can tap our way to (almost) whatever we want. With Washio, another time-consuming task meets the convenience of on-demand app innovation.

With the ever-increasing proliferation of on-demand service, the question is no longer “Which problems can be solved with an app?” but instead “Which problems can’t?”