Loopie, the Seattle peer-to-peer laundry service, announced the acquisition Monday of Bidbud, a gig economy platform that allows clients to post job opportunities that can be bid on by freelancers and service providers.
In a news release, Loopie called the move a strategic way to revolutionize its mobile app marketplace.
Launched in July 2018, Loopie is led by co-founder and CEO John Vincent Lee. The mobile app laundromat, connects people who don’t have the time or desire to deal with their own dirty laundry with people who can wash and dry on their own and earn money doing it.
Lee posted about the acquisition on LinkedIn on Monday.
“Excited to work with the Bidbud team on how we can integrate their technology on both the laundry front and beyond as we begin to explore new realms of how we can drive value to the communities we serve through our combined marketplace platform,” Lee wrote.
Loopie has raised $4 million to date, including nearly $1 million in 2022 from startup investor and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis and the Launch Syndicate. Calacanis is well known for his $25,000 backing of Uber in the early days of the ride-hailing company. He also invested early in Robinhood, Calm, and Thumbtack.
Other backers include Hyphen Capital, 37 Angels, Band of Angels, Elevate Capital, and the TiE angels. And Loopie also raised $388,710 from 170 investors in a Wefunder campaign last November.
Founded in 2019 by CEO James Fakhoury and CTO Elias Salmo, both University of Washington graduates, Bidbud is based in Tacoma, Wash.
“Our mission has always been to streamline and enrich the gig-economy marketplace experience through technology,” Fakhoury said in a statement. “With this acquisition, we’re set to unlock unprecedented potential, blending our strengths to enhance how users interact with on-demand services.”
