Back in July, BostInno first reported that Liberty Mutual executives appeared to have raised $14.4 million for a new Boston startup called All Set, and there were few details at the time, with a Liberty Mutual spokesperson only confirming that the Boston-based insurance company is an investor and that All Set will be independently operated.
But now, with the startup’s “Uber for home service providers” app officially launching in Boston on Tuesday, we have learned quite a bit more about the startup, including who the startup’s CEO is, how it plans to compete with industry incumbents like Angie’s List and the nature of its connection to Liberty Mutual.
Turns out, All Set was actually developed at Solaria Labs, Liberty Mutual’s startup incubator that opened in WeWork’s South Station location back in January, according to Liberty Mutual spokesman Glenn Greenberg. And it's actually the first startup created within Solaria Labs, where All Set is still based, to go to market.
All Set's CEO is Erin Breslin, a former product manager for Amazon in Seattle, and she helped develop All Set originally as a Liberty Mutual employee before switching over to the startup, according to Greenberg. Breslin told BostInno her position at Liberty Mutual was sharing economy domain manager, and that while she continues to live in Seattle, she spends half of her time at work in Boston.
In addition to confirming Liberty Mutual as an investor, All Set said that BCG Digital Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Boston Consulting Group, is the other investor.
So how does All Set plan to compete against companies like Angie’s List, Home Advisor, and Thumbtack? The key is keeping all interactions within the app, very much like Uber, and that includes the booking of home service providers, along with scheduling, messaging, facilitating payments and making referrals.
"We aim to provide both home service providers and customers a seamless experience," Breslin said, adding that no other solution out there today offers something quite like All Set.
Another key point for All Set is that it’s super focused on two specific kinds of recurring home services — lawn care and house cleaning — and the app works so you can “set it and forget it,” Breslin said.
What seems to be another major selling point for All Set — and what could allow it to accelerate customer adoption — is a group discount feature, which provides a group discount when a homeowner and neighbors share the same service provider. And the discount increases when more neighbors are added to that same provider.
"We’re encouraging grouping of these customers because home service professionals save money on driving and not having downtime," Breslin said.
Today, by using All Set’s referral feature, I have seen a 10 percent increase in business.
For instance, three neighbors using the same provider could translate into a 3 percent discount while eight neighbors could mean a 15 percent discount. Since it's focused on recurring services, the app can show you how much you money you could save on an annual basis (an example for "Anne’s Cleaning Service" shows savings of $260 a year with a 15 percent discount).
Homeowners also get credits for referring new providers to the app.
Besides providing an easier and potentially cheaper way of booking home service professionals, All Set also aims to help those professionals make more money and spend less time with busy work since scheduling, communications and payments all happen within the app. And since the discounts in the group discount feature are completely paid by All Set, providers don't lose any money from gaining a better local network of customers.
"Prior to using All Set, it often took me more than three hours a day to manage communications, schedules and payments,” Giseli Ceregatto, owner of New England Cleaning Service, said in a statement. "Now I am able to use my phone to manage these functions in minutes. I also used to place ads to secure new business. Today, by using All Set’s referral feature, I have seen a 10 percent increase in business."
All Set has officially launched in greater Boston, spanning from Groveland up north and Southborough out west to Carver down south. But there are some basic details about the startup that are still unclear, such as who founded it.
When asked about the founders, Greenberg, the Liberty Mutual spokesman, said "The best description of the founding of All Set is that it was created within Solaria Labs. We wouldn't attribute it to any individual(s)." And though the Form D for All Set's $14.4 million funding round lists several Liberty Mutual executives as directors, Greenberg said "we do not have information to publicly share at this time about the board composition."
Breslin said All Set has under 10 employees right now and that they have "significant experience in strategy execution, product management and technology" across startups, corporate ventures and larger corporations. But she said she couldn't say who any of her employees are or if they worked at Liberty Mutual. She also declined to disclose how long she was working at Liberty Mutual before joining All Set. She finished at Amazon in November 2015, according to her LinkedIn.
The reason Greenberg, the Liberty Mutual spokesman, is quoted throughout this piece is Breslin, who was first interviewed by BostInno, said she couldn't answer most of BostInno's questions about All Set's relationship to Liberty Mutual and Solaria Labs besides saying that Liberty Mutual is an investor and that she worked there before joining the startup.
