Honestbee launches on-demand laundry service

The startup’s founders (L-R): head of products Isaac Tay, CEO Joel Sng, and Singapore country manager Jonathan Low. Photo credit: Honestbee.

Now’s not a great time to be launching an app-connected laundry service, weeks after the demise of Wash.io. But that’s not deterring one of Singapore’ hottest startups, Honestbee, which today added on-demand laundry alongside its online groceries service.

Describing the move into your dirty linen as a “natural extension to our business,” Honestbee CEO Joel Sng this afternoon said its customers tend to be “time starved” and are now demanding new ways of getting things done more quickly.

The startup made the announcement at an event in Singapore. The mobile apps for iOS and Android have just been updated to add in a laundry section.

Drones on the horizon

Joel told journalists that the startup wasn’t satisfied with the first iteration of its software. “We realized we couldn’t really scale,” he said.

So the engineering team “took everything apart” and started over, building a “2.0” version of Honestbee. The new software platform now allows the company to run its services seamlessly across all markets and add more services as required.

The laundry component, for which Honestbee has partnered with several laundromats and laundry service providers in Singapore, is an example of this modular approach.

The startup is also experimenting with new technologies that won’t necessarily be available tomorrow, but could be implemented down the line. That includes a trial with Ben & Jerry’s for delivery via drone and a virtual reality product in partnership with NTUC.

Joel said the company now employs 196 people and has over 12,000 shoppers picking up items for customers.

Honestbee’s groceries are available in Singapore, Hong Kong, and selected cities in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The new laundry option is for now limited to Singapore.

(Updated: additional information from the launch event inserted.)

See more on Honestbee:

• Online grocery startup Honestbee raises $15m from Silicon Valley to deliver the goods
• Southeast Asia’s online grocery battle (Infographic)
• Watch out for these 6 Southeast Asian startups in 2016