Rinse adds Nicolas El Baze to its Board along with raising $14m Series B funding led by Partech Ventures

– USA, CA – Rinse, the fastest growing national brand in dry cleaning and laundry delivery, today announced that it has raised $14 million in Series B financing led by Partech Ventures. The new funding follows a strong year for the company which has seen double-digit month-over-month revenue growth since its launch in 2013. The funding round will be used to fuel expansion to several new markets, including Chicago, Boston, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Seattle, Miami, San Diego, Denver, and New York. As part of the financing, Nicolas El Baze from Partech Ventures has joined the Rinse Board of Directors.

“Rinse is on a mission to be the first and largest national brand in clothing care,” said Ajay Prakash, Co-Founder and CEO of Rinse. “We’ve worked hard to build a phenomenal team which is dedicated to providing our customers with the most convenient and high-quality way to get their dry cleaning and laundry done. We’re really proud of what we’ve accomplished to date and are excited to work with Partech as we more than triple the number of markets we serve.”

In the four years since its launch Rinse has demonstrated rapid growth, best-in-class customer retention, and steady margin expansion at a time when the consumer “on-demand” market has not been kind to startups. Despite several of these businesses closing shop, including some well-funded competitors in dry cleaning and laundry, Rinse has continued to thrive with its focus on high-quality and “smart scheduling” that works with customers’ naturally recurring needs for dry cleaning and laundry.

In addition to experiencing double-digit month-over-month growth since its launch, Rinse’s expansion playbook continues to get stronger with each new city. In Washington, DC for example, where the company began serving customers last November, Rinse has averaged 40% month-over-month revenue growth and was contribution breakeven in just a few months.

“We’re excited to bring our market expansion playbook to new cities with this funding,” said Prakash. “Washington, DC has grown even faster than Los Angeles and San Francisco, proving that the technology and processes we have developed to support the large volume we are seeing in more mature markets will transfer immediately to new cities.”

“There’s no doubt about it – Rinse has assembled the best team in the industry,” said Nicolas El Baze, General Partner at Partech Ventures. “They are laser-focused on creating a great customer experience and on scalable execution, and they have deep industry expertise which has been proven by their ability to achieve high growth in a complex market. We are confident they have what it takes to be a national, and eventually global, brand in a space where no one has been able to do that in the past.”

Rinse’s Series B funding of $14 million, in which several existing investors, including Javelin Ventures, Arena Ventures, Accelerator Ventures, and Structure Capital also participated, brings its total raised to nearly $24 million. In addition to growth and expansion, the Series B funding will enable the company to accelerate hiring across its current markets in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, and to build out its team in new cities. The company plans to expand talent across roles in technology, product, marketing, corporate operations, customer experience, and local operations as they remain focused on market expansion and continued double-digit growth.

About Rinse:

Rinse is building the first and largest national brand in clothing care. The service offers pickup and delivery for customers’ dry cleaning and laundry needs. The company is focused on addressing a massive consumer problem and creating a significantly better and more standardized dry cleaning and laundry experience through the combination of “smart scheduling” and best-in-class quality, all supported by a strong technology backbone that allows it to effectively manage the operational complexity that comes with scale. Its services include Dry Cleaning, Launder & Press, Wash & Fold, Hang Dry, Repairs, Leather Cleaning, and it takes Clothing Donations. The company was founded by Ajay Prakash and James Joun and is headquartered in San Francisco.

For more information : https://www.rinse.com

About Partech Ventures:

Founded in 1982 in Silicon Valley, Partech Ventures is a global investment firm with a team spread across offices in San Francisco, Paris and Berlin. Most Partners have been entrepreneurs themselves or have held management positions within tech companies. The partnership acts and invests as a single team, helping entrepreneurs build fast-growing tech and digital companies addressing large markets across multiple continents. Partech Ventures partners with entrepreneurs at the seed (Partech Entrepreneur), venture (Partech International) and/or growth (Partech Growth) stages. Companies backed by Partech Ventures have completed 21 initial public offerings and more than 50 major M&A transactions with leading international companies. Since 2012, the team has built a pioneering business development platform fostering synergies and business relationships between entrepreneurs and strategic partners.

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