Handy is an online two-sided marketplace for residential cleaning, installation, and other home services.[1] Founded in 2012 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the now New York-based company operates services in United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. The company was acquired by ANGI Homeservices in October 2018.
Handy was founded in summer 2012 as Handybook by Oisin Hanrahan, Umang Dua, Weina Scott (a computer science graduate from Harvard University) and Ignacio Leonhardt (a graduate of Duke University and the London School of Economics). In fall 2012, it moved its headquarters from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Manhattan, New York. The online household services marketplace they created follows a sharing economy approach and a business model that has been compared to Uber. The Handybook name was chosen as it was a place to book handyman and cleaning services.
Handybook was launched with incubation support from the Harvard Innovation Lab.In October 2012 Handybook raised 2 million dollars in seed financing from General Catalyst Partners and Highland Capital PartnersThe following year in October 2013, Handybook raised further 10 million dollars from existing investors along with David Tisch’s BoxGroup and other investors.
The same month Handybook began talks to acquire the San Francisco-based Exec, a similar service for hiring people to complete household tasks. In January 2014, Handybook completed the acquisition of the company which helped establish its West Coast presence.By May 2014, the company was employing nearly a hundred people.
