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Dry cleaning and laundry app DRYV has served early adopters in Chicago since its iOS launch earlier this year, but now DRYV is ready “to serve the masses,” co-founder Dan Parsons said. The company recently closed a $450,000 seed round all from Chicago angel investors to roll out the app to major Chicago neighborhoods via iOS, Android and web.
The gist of the DRYV app is that users can arrange the pickup of their dry cleaning and laundry by a “DRYVer” who will transport the clothes and will answer questions about types of cleaning required for certain garments. “The average person doesn’t have intimate knowledge of how their garments should be cared for, and that’s perfectly OK. We created DRYV to make sure clothes are cleaned properly,” Parsons said in a statement.
After garments are collected, they are transported to DRYV’s West Loop headquarters where they are inventoried using photos and then are sent off to eco-friendly cleaning facilities. Then the clothes are delivered back to the customer the very next day. This next-day, convenient cleaning and dry cleaning service is available seven days a week through DRYV.
DRYV is also launching corporate offerings for companies to offer as a company perk and for property managers who don’t want to deal with on-site facilities.
Los Angeles-based competitor Wash.io, which started in March 2013, also offers enterprise laundry services as well next-day delivery of personal laundry and dry cleaning. Though Chicago is on Wash.io's list of places to expand this year, it hasn’t penetrated the market yet. DRYV is taking advantage of that open space by swiftly launching across Chicago with the support of the Chicago angel investment community.
“The Chicago angel activity has picked up over the past several years,” Parson said. “Local entrepreneurs should feel confident in their ability to raise seed funding assuming their vision and model has a chance. Chicago is promising but not quite yet SF."
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