Arabnet Arabnet

Laundry shop image via Shutterstock

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Washmen is the latest e-laundry service in the UAE to receive a sizeable investment. Launched in September 2015, the startup has received $400,000 in seed funding from Ali Dayekh, a Saudi angel investor, to further develop its service and app.

The startup is a graduate of Flat6Labs Abu Dhabi. The app was launched in September 2015, and has been seeing consistent double digit growth week-on-week, with a 90% customer return rate.

The Washmen app allows customers to set up pick-up and delivery times for their laundry from and to the location of their choice, at their convenience. The startup works with top laundry businesses in the UAE to deliver affordable high-quality service quickly and reliably – even proposing next-day delivery.

UAE: The Capital of Laundry Services?

Washmen is not the only service of its kind – it is not even the only one in the UAE. The country’s large expat community – mostly young, single professionals with no time to do their own laundry or drop it off in person – guarantees a steady flow of customers and income for e-laundry businesses.

Laundrybox was the very first such business in Dubai and the UAE, and it has been around since 2012. When it first started out, its founder Bader Al Kalooti managed to raise $1.3 million from private investors. A year later, the startup received another $1.4 million investment from Al Zarooni Emirates Investments (ZEI). The service currently has over 7,000 customers.

The Laundrybox app allows customers to pick up and drop off their laundry (washing, ironing, dry cleaning) at smart lockers in different locations. It sends them a confirmation after their laundry has been picked up, along with an invoice. After processing the payment via mobile, it notifies them of the expected delivery time.

Besides Washmen, 2 new laundry service startups began operating in the UAE: GetLaundry and Washplus both operate based on a similar model to Washmen, and offer delivery options as fast as the next day. Washplus also proposes to its customers the bonus of tracking their laundry!