Laundry startup UClean raises seed funding from Franchise India

Gurgaon-based UConcepts Solutions LLP, which owns tech-enabled laundry service provider UClean, has secured an undisclosed amount in seed funding from franchise and retail solution group Franchise India, it said in a statement.

The startup will use the funding to build more than 500 laundromats in five years, it said. The first store will be opened in Gurgaon in December.

The firm was founded in October by Arunabh Sinha, an IIT Bombay graduate. He previously headed the north India operations for budget hotel chain Treebo Hotels.

"UClean will follow a franchisee model with a few company-owned stores," Sinha told Techcircle. "We will also be looking at opening 'on-premise laundry' stores in and around hospitals and hostels across India. We are also looking to raise a Series A round in three to six months," he said.

"The laundromat business has seen an exponential growth globally. India is still developing this concept and will certainly gain scalability in the next five to six years," said Sonya Choudhary, managing director of Franchise India.

Last month, Franchise India participated in Ahmedabad-based specialty tea startup The Kettlery's seed funding round.

While a few startups in the laundry segment elicited investor interest in the recent past, many others closed operations as raising follow-on finding became increasingly difficult.

Earlier this month, mobile-based laundry services startup PickMyLaundry raised $200,000 (Rs 1.3 crore) in the first tranche of its pre-Series A funding round. The round was led by angel investor Kedar Lele. Existing investor GHV Accelerator also participated in the round by investing $100,000 (Rs 65 lakh).

In July this year, Pune-based HelloDhobi secured angel funding from Hong Kong-based investment firm Swastika Company Ltd and a few Mumbai-based HNIs. In March, Gurgaon-based OneClickWash raised seed funding from Unitus Seed Fund.

In February, Jaipur-based Urban Dhobi Services Pvt. Ltd raised an undisclosed amount of funding from angel investors Vinod Bansal and Sanjeev Singhal.

In May, Bengaluru-based Flashdoor halted operations and in February, Delhi-based Tooler reportedly shut down. In March, UrbanClap halted its laundry division.

In April, Chennai-based startup Wassup acquired Hyderabad's Ezeewash.