Home services app GoodWork raises $1.6m in seed funding

GoodWork, an ecommerce platform for home services in the Philippines, said it has raised US$1.6 million in a seed round led by US-based Chaac Ventures.

Other US investment funds such as Elysium Ventures and Kairos K50, as well as angel investors from Facebook and Snapchat, also participated in the round, according to a statement.

Photo credit: GoodWork

Founded by former Lazada exec Andrew Koger, the Manila-based startup offers a suite of home services such as home cleaning, laundry delivery, and repairs. At the same time, it also helps small entrepreneurs and gig workers find new customers by taking their businesses online.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, the company has also added special disinfection cleaning services to its offerings.

GoodWork said it will be using the fresh capital to fuel its growth and expand across Southeast Asia. It also looks to make additional hires over the next 12 months to support its plans, Koger told Tech in Asia.

“We see a great opportunity in major urban areas across Southeast Asia, and we are particularly excited to expand into Vietnam and Thailand in late 2020 or early 2021,” he said.

With the rapid growth of mobile internet penetration and ecommerce spending in the Philippines, the company said it sees great growth potential in building a platform specialized for the services economy.

GoodWork claims that in its first year of operations, it already handles 10,000 jobs a month, with 70% of daily bookings coming from repeat customers.

With its expansion plans in the region, the company is poised to go up against Rocket Internet-backed Helpling, an online platform that lets users book vetted and insured cleaners.

The Berlin-based company entered Singapore in 2015. After raising about US$22.3 million in investments, Helpling said it’s eyeing expansion into new markets including Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam this year.