Doing laundry is one of those tedious chores that most people dread—time-consuming, mundane, and seemingly never-ending. It’s precisely this frustration that has spawned a wave of startups aiming to lighten the load for consumers. Now, venture capitalists are lining up to back innovators, both fresh entrants and established players, in the on-demand laundry service sector.
A case in point is NoScrubs, an Austin-based startup that’s just closed a $2 million pre-seed round led by Initialized Capital. Founded 11 months ago by former Instacart leader Matt O’Connor and his cofounder, Sudhanshu Gautam, NoScrubs promises a faster, more affordable laundry experience. Their model focuses on rapid turnaround—delivering neatly folded laundry within just a few hours of pickup. The startup leverages partnerships with existing laundromats and apartment-based laundry facilities scattered strategically across Austin, minimizing travel times and boosting efficiency. Customers have the flexibility to choose between subscription plans and pay-as-you-go options. Currently approaching 1,000 unique customers in its home base, NoScrubs is eyeing broader expansion throughout Texas and across the U.S. by the end of 2026.
Meanwhile, Rinse, a San Francisco-based company established in 2013, recently secured a substantial $23 million Series D investment led by LG Electronics. Cofounded by CEO Ajay Prakash, CTO Sam Cheng, and James Joun, the venture began with the vision of bringing technology and convenience to traditional dry cleaning and laundry services. Prakash and Joun, friends from Dartmouth, were inspired by Joun’s family background in running a dry-cleaning business. After initially bootstrapping the startup, Rinse has grown into a sizeable national brand, operating in several major cities.
Rinse markets itself as the “Uber for laundry,” with customers typically receiving orders within three to four days; however, same-day or 24-hour service is also available for an additional charge. Unlike many gig-economy companies, Rinse opts to hire its delivery workers (“valets”) as direct employees rather than independent contractors. The company, which has raised over $70 million to date, also continues to broaden its business-to-business offerings, serving commercial clients like multifamily housing, cafés, and spas. Its longer-term plans include acquiring and establishing branded brick-and-mortar laundromats to complement its existing services.
Investors clearly find value in backing these innovative laundry services. Zoe Perret, a partner at Initialized Capital, specifically highlighted NoScrubs’ approach of utilizing underutilized infrastructure rather than owning expensive facilities themselves. She points to early traction in Austin as evidence of the startup’s potential to scale quickly and economically across other markets. Frontier Venture Capital joined Initialized Capital in supporting NoScrubs’ initial funding round.
On the corporate side, LG Electronics is integrating its investment by tying in Rinse’s services with promotions for its washers and dryers, potentially reaching countless new consumers directly purchasing laundry-related appliances.
Despite their current success and promising futures, startups like NoScrubs and Rinse operate in an arena with mixed historical results. Previous efforts in this industry have seen high-profile failures, including Washio in 2016 and Prim, a Y Combinator-backed company, in 2014. Washio’s assets were later purchased by Rinse, highlighting the competitive yet opportunistic nature of this crowded market. Still, the figures remain attractive—the overall market for laundry and dry cleaning services in the U.S. was estimated at nearly $16 billion in 2024, indicating robust potential for growth.
