LawnStarter

LawnStarter is an Austin-based startup that allows homeowners to find, book and pay for lawn care from local pros. LawnStarter currently has locations and operates across several major U.S. cities, including Austin, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Jacksonville, Orlando, Washington DC and Charlotte.

The company's online and mobile applications enable the booking and paying for of lawn care,^[1] with access to services and payments on-the-go.

Investment

In January 2015, LawnStarter raised an initial seed round of $1 million from Gary Vaynerchuk (via Vayner RSE), Rob Taylor, Cotter Cunningham, Rony Kahan, and others.^[2] In June of 2015, the company received $6 million in Series A funding from Binary Capital. ^[3]

To date, the company has received over $7 million in funding.

Applications

LawnStarter offers two online apps, one for consumers and one for lawn care professionals. Both apps can be accessed through a browser from nearly any internet connected device or via their respective iOS and Android mobile app.

Consumer applications

The consumer app allows homeowners to fully manage their account and services from an iOS^[4] or Android^[5] device.

Provider applications

The provider app allows lawn care professionals to accept and manage their jobs from their iOS^[6] or Android^[7] device. The app has automatic billing which allows pros to focus on handling their jobs without worrying about waiting around for payment from customers.

Quality of life report

In 2015, LawnStarter produced a quality of life report that ranked states and cities by different ranking factors including Material Well Being (GDP Per Capita), Health (Life Expectancy in Years), Job Security (Unemployment Rate), Family Life (Divorce Rate), Climate Geography (Location [Assumed Weather]), and Gender Equality (Male to Female Income Ratio).^[8]

In the media

In January 2016, Built In Austin ranked LawnStarter as one of the top 50 startups to watch in Austin.^[9]

References

1. Calnan, Christopher (1 August 2014). "LawnStarter uses the Web to connect property owners with contractors". Austin Business Journal.
2. "Techstars grad LawnStarter bags $1M from Gary Vaynerchuk, others". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
3. Ha, Anthony. "LawnStarter Raises $6M To Become Your “Lawn Care Concierge”". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
4. "LawnStarter on the App Store". App Store. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
5. "LawnStarter - Android Apps on Google Play". play.google.com. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
6. "LawnStarter for Providers on the App Store". App Store. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
7. "LawnStarter for Providers - Android Apps on Google Play". play.google.com. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
8. "LawnStarter's 2015 Quality of Life Report for States". www.lawnstarter.com. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
9. "50 Austin startups to watch in 2016". Built In Austin. Retrieved 2016-03-18.

Further reading

• "Lawncare Made Easy, Lawnstarter Raises $6 Million Series A". The Huffington Post. 15 June 2015.
• "LawnStarter Raises $6M To Become Your “Lawn Care Concierge”". TechCrunch. AOL. 2 June 2015.
• Calnan, Christopher (3 June 2015). "Austin online marketplace operator LawnStarter raises funding - Austin Business Journal". Austin Business Journal.
• "LawnStarter Raises $6 Million in a Series A Round". SiliconHills.
• "LawnStarter Expands to San Antonio and Four Other Markets". SiliconHills.
• "LawnStarter Launches in Austin to Simplify Lawn Care for Consumers". SiliconHills.
• "Austin City Council to vote on 'Fair Chance Hiring' on Thursday". KTBC.