Doing laundry is a chore that few people enjoy, but startups are stepping in to take the load off. NoScrubs, an 11-month-old on-demand laundry delivery service, has just raised $2 million in a pre-seed round led by Initialized Capital. Meanwhile, Rinse, a 12-year-old laundry and dry cleaning service, has secured $23 million in Series D funding led by LG Electronics. The investments signal a growing interest in the laundry startup space, where companies are vying to make the tedious task of doing laundry faster, more affordable, and convenient.

NoScrubs, founded by early Instacart employee Matt O'Connor and CTO Sudhanshu Gautam, aims to provide a faster and more affordable laundry service. The company claims it can return folded loads within a few hours from pickup, with customers able to pay on demand or sign up for a subscription. Currently available only in Austin, Texas, NoScrubs is approaching 1,000 unique customers and plans to expand within Texas and across the US by the end of 2026.

Rinse, founded in 2013 by CEO Ajay Prakash, CTO Sam Cheng, and James Joun, has raised over $70 million since its inception. The company operates in several major US cities, promising to turn around laundry or dry cleaning within as little as 24 hours (for an extra fee) but with a standard three- to four-day turnaround. Rinse prides itself on hiring its workers as employees rather than independent contractors. The company has cleaned over 100 million garments and is now growing its B2B side, serving commercial clients such as multifamily operators, cafes, and spas.

The idea for NoScrubs was born out of O'Connor's frustration with his own laundry service while working at Instacart. He saw an opportunity to create a faster and more affordable service by leveraging underutilized machines in laundromats and apartment complexes. Initialized Partner Zoe Perret believes this model sets NoScrubs apart, allowing it to scale quickly while maintaining strong unit economics.

Rinse, on the other hand, was founded by Prakash and Joun, who drew on their experience with startups and the dry cleaning industry. The company has acquired and branded brick-and-mortar laundromats and cleaners, and plans to continue expanding geographically. LG's investment in Rinse will also help promote the service to purchasers of its washer and dryers.

The laundry startup space has seen its fair share of failures, with Washio shutting down its operations in 2016 and Prim announcing its shutdown in 2014. However, the market size of the US laundry facilities and dry-cleaning services industry, estimated at $15.75 billion in 2024, suggests there is room for multiple players. As investors continue to bet on on-demand laundry services, it will be interesting to see which startups emerge as leaders in the space.

For now, NoScrubs and Rinse are well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for convenient and affordable laundry services. With their fresh funding, they will be able to expand their services, improve their operations, and attract more customers. As the laundry startup space continues to evolve, one thing is clear: doing laundry is about to get a whole lot easier.