Chennai-based on-demand laundry startup Wassup, run by Laundry Project India Pvt. Ltd, continues to be on a buying spree. Marking its third buyout in under two years, it has acquired the assets of now-defunct rival DoorMint, a top company executive said.
Wassup is buying out DoorMint’s factory and technology in an equity swap, Balachandar R, co-founder and chief executive of Wassup, confirmed to VCCircle.
The founders of DoorMint, which shut shop in September last year, will not join Wassup and make an exit. However, DoorMint’s investors Kalaari Capital and Helion Ventures will be getting a stake in Wassup in the form of convertible preference shares.
Convertible preference shares can be converted into normal shares after a pre-specified date. Balachandar said the exact amount of stake Kalaari and Helion would get will be decided when the company goes for Series A funding.
He added that Wassup was preparing for a $10-million Series A round within the next 12 months.
“I think their [DoorMint’s] technology is the best in the industry. That is of great value, if you want to scale up. That is the reason we acquired them,†Balachandar told VCCircle over a phone call.
The Times of India was the first to report the development.
In May 2015, Wassup had raised $2 million in pre-Series A funding from Arun Chandra Mohan and Praveen Sinha, co-founders of Rocket Internet-incubated lifestyle e-tailer Jabong.com.
In November 2015, it acquired Mumbai-based laundry service firm Chamak.
Last year, Wassup bought Ezeewash, a Hyderabad-based launderette, in an all-equity deal.
Wassup was founded by Durga Das and Balachandar R in 2012. Das is a serial entrepreneur with about 20 years of work experience in Silicon Valley companies. Before co-founding Wassup, Balachandar headed the retail practice for Hidesign.
Rajesh Raju, managing director of Kalaari Capital, said in a media statement, “We have seen the online laundry space go through rough times but believe that Wassup has a unique hybrid model with strong unit economics and a brand of national presence that can be leveraged to create a leading laundry brand in India. â€
Messages sent to DoorMint co-founder Abhinav Agarwal seeking comments didn't elicit a response at the time of filing this story.
Last year, Mumbai-based DoorMint had pivoted its model from on-demand home services to only laundry. It then went quiet operationally, shutting down services in Bangalore and Gurgaon.
