TaskRabbit clones are struggling in Asia. Not Japan’s Anytimes, which just raised $1.9M

Anytimes, a Tokyo-based online marketplace that allows users to outsource various odd jobs to people in their local communities, today announced that is has raised JPY 230 million (US$1.9 million) in series A funding. Returning investor DeNA joined fellow mobile gaming giant Gree, angel investor Makoto Takano, and other individual investors for the latest round. Takano, the ex-CEO of investment management firm PIMCO Japan, will join the startup as an external director.

Anytimes CFO Maki Kuwano tells Tech in Asia that the new capital will be used for system and design improvement, hiring, and marketing. The startup released iOS and Android apps in April to complement its web service, which launched in beta in October 2013. While Kuwano wouldn’t discuss user numbers or total tasks completes since launch, he says that the iOS app has been downloaded more than 100,000 times in just two months.

If you’re thinking that the service sounds a lot like Japan’s answer to TaskRabbit, well, you’d be correct. According to Kuwano, Anytimes’ mission is to “create and promote a society where people share what they’re good at and what they like with each other.” Some jobs on the site include housekeeping, dog walking, furniture assembly, and language lessons. The person providing the service sets their own price, and the startup takes a 15 percent cut of each completed task. Taskrabbit, on the other hand, takes 20 percent.

If a person you hire from Anytimes ends up breaking something they promised to fix, the startup is insured for property damage up to US$1 million. Payments are held in escrow, so a user can cancel a task at any time until the payment is released.

At present, the vast majority of available talent remains concentrated in the greater Tokyo area. “We’re looking outside [of Tokyo],” Kuwano adds. “But it all depends on how things go here.”

The TaskRabbit model has been hit-or-miss thus far in Asia, with no fewer than four Singaporean clones failing or pivoting. Down under in Australia, however, another clone just raised US$5 million with eyes on Singapore and Hong Kong.

While Tokyo is the indisputable heart of Japan, with about 10 percent of the country’s total population, Anytimes’ success will likely be tied to how well it can scale into other cities and towns. The capital has great infrastructure and easy access to many of the things that the service offers, so those in areas who don’t have the world at their fingertips could end up benefiting the most – and thus coming back for more, more often.

Anytimes (formerly Any+Times) raised US$500,000 in seed funding from DeNA and Incubate Fund last June.