Brooklyn Couple Creates ‘Uber for Housecleaning’

Brooklyn Couple Creates ‘Uber for Housecleaning’


A Brooklyn, New York area couple has created the “Uber for cleaning” with their new app, Geniemates. The app lets you order on-demand housecleaning.

Currently only serving New York City, users can send a text via the Geniemates app describing the type of cleaning service they need. A “Geniemate”– a vetted, professional cleaner – will arrive at your home (or office) within the timeframe you specify.

The app is available on iOS or Android. A two-hour home cleaning (for places up to two bedrooms) is $80 and includes wiping, dusting, basic bathroom cleaning, vacuuming, and mopping. A three-hour cleaning job is $120 and $160 for four hours.

The co-founders of Geniemates, Steve and Sade Metellus, created the app based on their own harried schedules as full-time working Millennials raising a family in New York City.

Steve, whose background is in computer science and finance, built the initial iOS app over a weekend using Xcode and Amazon AWS for the database.

“We only needed to pay Apple’s required $99 registration fee for a developer account!” he says.

Sade’s professional background is in finance and business development. Both are former bankers of JP Morgan Chase.

On seeking additional funding, Steve says, “Although Geniemates is part of our Metellus + Co incubator…we are currently seeking additional funding from outside VC’s to accelerate growth.”

He says that cleaning professionals with Geniemates are thoroughly vetted via background checks at the national and state level.

“We also run a cleaning simulation as part of our on boarding process where our in-house professionals are trained on standard industry practices,” he adds.

The most looming question is: what is Geniemates’ strategy for competing with existing services such as TaskRabbit?

“‘Home Services’ is such a high-touch market,” he explains. “And the team at Geniemates understands that servicing clients in this space deserves a more human feel although it’s an app.”

“This is something our competitors don’t quite understand, which leads to poor customer service. Our clients really find the Geniemates app as an essential tool for on-demand services, our value is really freeing time in a very intuitive way.”

 

 

 


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