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Hello Alfred is an American technology company that manages home logistics for its clients. The company pairs clients with client managers who it hires, vets, and trains. The client managers take care of groceries, laundry, dry cleaning, package delivery, and other tasks for their clients. Founded in 2013 by Marcela Sapone, Jess Beck, and Christian Bjeland, the company won TechCrunch Disrupt SF in 2014. [1] After raising $12.5 million in funding, currently operates in Boston and New York City, with stated plans to expand to several other cities.
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Home services |
| Founded | September, 2013 |
| Founders | Marcela Sapone, Jess Beck, Christian Bjeland |
| Headquarters | New York, New York, United States |
Key people | Bijan Sabet, Scott Sandell (Board Members) |
| Services | Home logistics, Butler services |
| Website | www |
History
editHello Alfred was founded in September, 2013 by Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck, both former McKinsey & Company employees.[2] The two were attending Harvard Business School at the time, along with co-founder Christian Bjeland.
The co-founders first developed the service for their own personal use; they began to develop it commercially after neighbors began asking for it themselves, offering to pay up to $400 for what is now available for less than $100. [3]
The company accumulated $100,000 in prize money by winning the Harvard Business School New Venture Competition.[4] In September, 2014, the company proceeded to win TechCrunch Disrupt SF, the startup competition and showcase made famous in Mike Judge’s Silicon Valley (TV series), featured on HBO. [5]
In November, the company raised a $2 million seed funding round with investments from Spark Capital, SV Angel, and Crunchfund.[6] After its seed round the company launched in New York and moved its headquarters there, while continuing its Boston operations. Its series A then raised an additional $10.5 million with investments from New Enterprise Associates, Spark Capital, Sherpa Ventures, and CrunchFund.[7]
As of July, the company claims to have saved its clients over 5 years worth of chore-time for its clients. [8]
Reception
editWorker Classification Debate
editThe company has received praise for hiring its client managers as W-2 employees and offering a starting hourly wage of $18.[9] It has also weighed in heavily on the debate about worker classification in the Sharing economy. The debate erupted in the media spotlight shortly after former secretary of state and first lady Hillary Clinton criticized companies for misclassifying workers as Form 1099 independent contractors in a speech laying out her economic agenda for the United States Presidential Election, 2016. [10] Shortly before, tech giant Uber inc. lost a lawsuit in California over its worker classification of Barbara Berwick, with the court finding that Ms. Berwick was improperly classified as an independent contractor and should have been classified as an employee. [11]
Hello Alfred became a leading voice in the debate as one of the first startups in the space to classify its workers at W2 employees instead of 1099 independent contractors and therefore offering benefits and healthcare. [12] It has been celebrated for this decision, as well as having a starting hourly wage of $18 for the client managers. [13]
Other
editAlfred has been touted as the first company in the On Demand Economy 2.0 [14], highlighting its role in automating the on-demand economy by enabling recurring use, rather than one-off tasks, offered by services such as TaskRabbit and Doordash. [15]
The company has also been seen as opening up butler services in the same way Uber did black car service [16], using technology and the sharing economy to allow more people to afford a service that was previously considered a luxury.[17]
References
edit- ^ http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/10/and-the-winner-of-techcrunch-disrupt-sf-2014-is-alfred/
- ^ https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/alfred
- ^ http://www.businessinsider.com/alfred-founders-explain-why-they-created-a-startup-to-do-your-chores-2015-6
- ^ [http://betaboston.com/news/2014/04/29/harvard-business-school-names-new-venture-competition-winners/
- ^ http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/10/and-the-winner-of-techcrunch-disrupt-sf-2014-is-alfred/
- ^ http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/18/alfred-goes-live-in-ny-with-a-fresh-2m-in-seed-from-spark-capital/
- ^ https://www.pehub.com/2015/04/hello-alfred-collects-10-5-mln-series-a/
- ^ http://nextjuggernaut.com/blog/how-alfred-helps-take-the-work-right-out-of-housework-startup-story-14/
- ^ http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2014/11/18/home-assistant-startup-alfred-launches-paying-gasp-real-wages/
- ^ http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/13/in-economic-address-hillary-clinton-calls-out-gig-economy.html
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/18/business/uber-contests-california-labor-ruling-that-says-drivers-should-be-employees.html?_r=0
- ^ https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/sharing-economy-jobs-employees-not-contractors
- ^ http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2014/11/18/home-assistant-startup-alfred-launches-paying-gasp-real-wages/
- ^ https://medium.com/@cobyberman/the-on-demand-economy-2-0-6b9832b0d6f3
- ^ http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/14/alfred-series-a/
- ^ http://www.betaboston.com/news/2014/11/18/alfred-raises-2-million-to-allow-urbanites-to-subscribe-to-a-personal-assistant/
- ^ http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4297597910001/accomplish-more-with-your-own-personal-assistant/?#sp=show-clips