Four US services that would go gangbusters in Australia – StartupSmart
Whether it’s getting chai-flavoured milkshakes delivered to your door at 11pm or hiring your own manservant to feed you grapes while you lie in repose, San Francisco has some pretty excellent – and all-out whacky – services available to its residents.
StartupSmart has chosen four American startups or services that would hit it off in Australia should they launch Down Under.
Reckon there’s another service that should have made the list but didn’t? Get in touch.
1. Washio
We hear that hardly anyone does their own washing in San Francisco thanks to on-demand services that pick up your dirty laundry and deliver clean clothes straight to your door.
Washio is the most popular on-demand laundry service in the US at the moment, allowing users to schedule drop-off and pickup times for their laundry and dry cleaning at the tap of a button.
Washio costs $US1.6 ($A2.1) per pound of clothes for a simple wash and fold service – with higher prices for shirts, dress pants, dresses and jackets. Last year, the startup raised $US10.5 million in Series A funding in order to expand beyond Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington.
2. Classpass
Standard gym memberships are so yesterday.
ClassPass is a startup allowing people to pay a monthly fee in exchange for access to as many boutique fitness classes as they like – whether it be yoga, boxing or beginner’s hip hop.
The service costs up to $US99 a month and members can visit the same class up to three times each cycle. In January, the startup raised $US40 million in Series B funding in order to fuel international growth.
3. Lyft Line
Ride-sharing startup Lyft has a service called Lyft Line that allows people to share a car with someone going in the same direction.
It’s much like car-pooling to work or how friends in the same neighbourhood might take turns to drop their kids off at school, but streamlined through a smartphone app.
Lyft, which is a major competitor of Uber, has raised around $US320 million in funding to date.
4. Google Express
Google Express allows users to shop from local stores and popular retailers online and get same-day or overnight delivery.
Delivery is free for orders over $US15, and the monthly subscription rate is currently waived for new customers for the first three months. Users either subscribe on a monthly or annual basis for $US10 or $US95 a respectively.
The service was originally available in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, and last year expanded into Washington, Chicago and Boston.
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