Spruce, an on-demand housekeeping and services startup that moved from Houston to Austin last year, has raised $8 million in Series A funding to continue its geographical expansion.
Houston-based Mercury Fund led the investment, with participation from fellow Houston firm Sweat Equity Partners. The startup, which now has raised about $14 million to date, previously raised a $3 million round in 2019 led by New Jersey-based Fitz Gate Ventures, along with Mercury Fund, Capital Factory and the Houston Angel Network. It also raised a $2 million round in 2018.
Originally called Apartment Butler, Spruce offers apartment communities a range of services through a marketplace platform and app. That includes housekeeping, dog walking, disinfecting, laundry and smaller, one-off jobs like the dishes. Its small job services is one of the appeals for apartment renters who may not want to commit to a full-scale cleaning, but would pay for particular jobs, like mopping floors.
"Today's apartment community is a vibrant micro-economy for services and goods, and Spruce efficiently channels these interactions into a single marketplace," founder and CEO Ben Johnson said in an announcement. "This Series A will expand our offerings to more residents and properties as well as continue our national roll-out."
Spruce operates in nine markets, with more than 760 properties using its services. One of its most recent new product is sanitization and disinfecting services for commons areas of apartment complexes, which it launched in April.
With the new funding, Steven Pho, a former executive at Austin-based Favor and RetailMeNot, is joining Spruce's board of directors, along with Sweat Equity Partners President Andrew White.
The company, which has 35 employees, including 21 in Austin, currently has two Austin-based job openings posted.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story misstated the location of Sweat Equity Partners. It has been updated.
