It seems like everyday there's another funding announcement from a startup creating a local services marketplace. Companies raising money in the last few months include:
Pro.com, a site that helps homeowners get quotes for their home improvement projects and find professionals in their areas to do the job, raised $14 million.
Thumbtack, a site that connects customers to a wide range of contractors, raised $100 million.
Handy, which recently changed its name from Handybook and connects customers to handy men (and women) of all kinds, raised $30 million.
Homejoy, which provides home cleaners, raised $38 million late last year.
These companies join existing firms such as Angie's List, TaskRabbit, Craiglist and many others already offering local services markets.
If you think there may be a bit of a bubble going on in the startup space these days, you're not alone. Noted VC Bill Gurley thinks things are starting to look a lot like 1999. Key quote from an interview with him in the Wall Street Journal:
"I think that Silicon Valley as a whole, or that the venture-capital community or startup community, is taking on an excessive amount of risk right now—unprecedented since '99," said Bill Gurley, a partner at Benchmark, referring to the last tech bubble.
Comments