ServisHero gets $2.7M for on-demand tasks in SE Asia

On-demand platform akin to TaskRabbit and Handy secures "pre-Series A" round to expand

ServisHero, a platform for finding and hiring local service providers in southeast Asia, announced this week that it has secured a $2.7 million “pre-Series A” round led by Golden Gate Ventures with participation from Cradle Seed Ventures (CSV).

Golden Gate is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Southeast Asia that has made over 25 investments in the area. Recent investments include PowerCore Inc (a platform for independent mobile game companies), Grana (a Hong Kong-based online clothing retailer), MyMusicTaste (a Seoul-based startup that gauges fan interest to help figure out where to plan concerts), and independent Android app store Aptoide.

The other contributor, CSV, is the venture capital arm of Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd, an agency that reports to Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance. Earlier funders include YTL Group, K&M Venture Support, and Lelong.

Akin to TaskRabbit or Handy in the U.S., ServisHero allows you to search for a wide variety of service providers, whether you need help in the home or automobile (e.g. cleaning, electrical, car wash), in fitness (e.g. personal trainer, pilates, yoga), for an event (e.g. custom cake, hair and makeup, photographer), or in lessons (e.g. language, swimming).

The company says its marketplace connects you to over 3,000 different service providers, so once you submit a request for a job, you receive a handful of quotes that you can choose from. Requests for services can be submitted either through the company’s website or one of its mobile apps (available for Android and iOS).

As with many sites where freelancers search for work, service providers must purchase credits from ServisHero in order to be able to bid on jobs.

Founded in Kuala Lumpur (the capital and most populous city in Malaysia) last summer, the company has since expanded to both Singapore and (most recently) Thailand.

When it launched in June, ServisHero had just closed a $750,000 round of "pre-seed" funding, which the company touted as one of the largest for that round stage in Malaysian startup history.

(Personally, I’m curious to hear more about the company’s definitions of these investment rounds. If the $750K was a “pre-seed” and the most recent $2.7 million is “pre-Series A,” does that mean their next round will be “pre-Series B?” I’m reaching out to learn more, as we continue to explore the evolving venture capital landscape.)

Though ServisHero operates in a broadly defined on-demand service space, the company believes its initial traction is proof that it can differentiate from competitors. The app, according to ServisHero, has been downloaded 50,000 times, and transactions have seen double-digit percentage growth every month.