Soothe swoops up YC-backed Unwind Me

The on-demand mobile massage service just got a little bigger

Fresh off of raising $10.6 million last month, mobile massage service Soothe just picked up smaller competitor Unwind Me, helping Soothe add additional therapists to its growing network.

Unwind Me started in 2014, went through the popular Y-Combinator program, and raised $1 million. Whereas Soothe started in 2013, and quickly raised $2.1 million from notable angels, such as Gil Penchina and Scott and Cyan Banister.

The two services are similar in that they provide on-demand massage therapists. But according to Merlin Kauffman, Founder and CEO of Soothe, Soothe focused on the demand side of the equation whereas Unwind Me focused on aggregating the supply side - or the therapists.

"We have more of a true on-demand model, where you pick a specific time and anytime one hour out," said Merlin. "In their scenario, they had more of a scheduling system and you’d enter your zip code, and they’d show a list of therapists with bios and times they were available. It was more of an online calendaring and scheduling system."

Why didn’t that approach work out, I asked. "I believe that the way the world is moving with on-demand apps, it’s more one-hour delivery cycle that people expect these days, while scheduling makes sense. The overwhelming trend is immediacy and immediate gratification."

"We shaped supply based on demand, whereas they were trying to shape demand based on the supply." 

Join Merlin and get free massages at Splash LA on Oct. 15 at the Loews Santa Monica Hotel. Register here.