LawnStarter, an on-demand platform for outdoor services, has secured a USD10.5 million growth investment from growth investor Edison Partners.
The new funding will enable LawnStarter to continue its growth in lawn care across the US and add new outdoor service lines including landscaping, fertilisation, pest control, and tree care.
Austin-based LawnStarter began by creating an easy way for consumers to order, manage, and pay for lawn mowing using services provided by a network of high-quality and insured service providers. The company has since been welcomed in 120 U.S. markets, grown 100% year over year and reached profitability.
“In the highly decentralised lawn care industry, ordering service takes days, communication is poor, and caring for your home requires hiring several different companies,” said LawnStarter CEO and co-founder Steve Corcoran. “We’ve brought together vetted and fully insured professionals to give consumers the best possible experience. Consumers can easily schedule lawn care and other services using a mobile app, giving them an effortless way to manage the full spectrum of their outdoor home needs.”
LawnStarter also helps lawn care businesses grow their revenue by 30 per cent to 80 per cent in a few months with no upfront cost. LawnStarter handles marketing, billing, scheduling and other back-office operations so that pros can focus on delivering great service. Additionally, LawnStarter’s algorithms use geolocation data to help pros build route density, increasing their profitability.
“The investment from Edison Partners will help us grow and scale our platform and business so we can transform the outdoor home services industry to meet the modern needs of homeowners, and work towards making every outdoor home service interaction as easy as clicking a button,” says Corcoran.
LawnStarter is the latest Edison Partners investment in large fragmented markets ripe for disruption and a differentiated customer experience, such as real estate investment and funding platform Fund That Flip, micro-mobility company Zagster, and the financial membership platform MoneyLion. In all, Edison Partners has financed and guided more than 230 private companies.
“LawnStarter is bringing innovation to the USD99 billion lawn care service market, where services are widely distributed and the consumer experience is poorly constructed,” says Daniel Herscovici, Partner at Edison Partners, who led the investment. “We look forward to partnering with Steve and the management team as they capitalise on the demand for seamlessly integrated and easy to use services amongst busy and time-pressed homeowners.”
Herscovici will join LawnStarter’s board of directors.
Existing investor Lerer Hippeau is also participating in this new investment round, which builds on previous investments from Bull Creek Capital, Techstars, Cotter Cunningham and Gary Vaynerchuk.
