APPS
APPS
APPS
IKEA acquires TaskRabbit to help customers assemble furniture
Flat-pack furniture retailer IKEA Group has acquired TaskRabbit Inc., a San Francisco-based startup that provides an on-demand hiring platform often used to hire people to put together IKEA furniture.
Founded in 2008, TaskRabbit offers an app from which users can hire what they call “Taskers” to assist with everyday chores such as cleaning, delivery, moving and handyman services.
Claimed to “connect neighbors to get things done,” the company’s service is pitched as both a convenience to those looking for assistance as well as a way for those with spare time to make some extra money using their hands. TaskRabbit has been around longer than Uber Technologies Inc., but like Uber drivers, Taskers are a mix of casual and part-time workers as well as professionals.
Taskers are said to perform thousands of tasks every day through the platform, with the company operating in 40 U.S. cities and in London, U.K. Notably, IKEA and TaskRabbit had previously worked together on a pilot that linked TaskRabbit Taskers to IKEA buyers who were looking for assistance in putting their furniture together.
“In a fast changing retail environment, we continuously strive to develop new and improved products and services to make our customers’ lives a little bit easier,” IKEA Group President and Chief Executive Officer Jesper Brodin said in a statement. “Entering the on-demand, sharing economy enables us to support that. We will be able to learn from TaskRabbit’s digital expertise, while also providing IKEA customers additional ways to access flexible and affordable service solutions to meet the needs of today’s customer.”
TaskRabbit will continue to operate as a standalone company under IKEA ownership, though there will be ample cross-promotional opportunities through IKEA stores. IKEA also said that it would look at expanding TaskRabbit’s presence into more locations across the globe in the future.
Prior to acquisition, TaskRabbit had raised $38 million from 500 Startups, Allen & Co., Baseline Ventures, Collaborative Fund, First Round Capital, FLOODGATE, Founders Fund, IT Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Shasta Ventures and The Tornante Co.
The price of the deal, which is expected to close in October, was not disclosed.
Photo: TaskRabbit
Since you’re here …
… We’d like to tell you about our mission and how you can help us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.’s business model is based on the intrinsic value of the content, not advertising. Unlike many online publications, we don’t have a paywall or run banner advertising, because we want to keep our journalism open, without influence or the need to chase traffic.The journalism, reporting and commentary on SiliconANGLE — along with live, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video teams at theCUBE — take a lot of hard work, time and money. Keeping the quality high requires the support of sponsors who are aligned with our vision of ad-free journalism content.
If you like the reporting, video interviews and other ad-free content here, please take a moment to check out a sample of the video content supported by our sponsors, tweet your support, and keep coming back to SiliconANGLE.
