Fixer, a new Chicago startup led by Grubhub co-founder Mike Evans, announced Wednesday it has raised $4 million in funding.
Fixer, founded in May of 2017, is an on-demand handyman service that sends a professional to your door to handle electrical, plumbing, carpentry and other household issues. The round was led by Cambridge, Ma.-based VC firm Founder Collective, and other backers include Impact Engine, Hyde Park Venture Partners and OATV. The startup has now raised $5 million to date.
Users just select the date and time they need the handyman to arrive, and Fixer sends a qualified professional to handle the task. Fixer says its goal is more than just making household repairs more efficient. Fixer recently organized as a Public Benefit Corporation, and says its mission is to create full-time career paths for men and women in the home repair trades. The startup is also opening an in-house school to recruit and train its "Fixers."
“We purposefully chartered as a public benefit corporation to increase the number of sustainable career paths for men and women in home repair trades,” Evans said in a statement. “It’s not enough to just provide a great service or disrupt a traditional industry with technology. We are leaning into a larger societal problem in that we need to nurture skilled people to perform these jobs and with this funding we are uniquely positioned to do it.”
Fixer says it also plans to use the funding to expand into new markets.
Fixer charges a rate of $94 to $110 per hour. It currently has a team of 25 Fixers, who have completed 3,000 jobs since launching one year ago. The company declined to share specific revenue figures.
Evans co-founded Grubhub in 2002 and left the Chicago-based food delivery company in 2014 and took a bicycle trip across the country after stepping down from his COO role. Fixer is his first official venture post Grubhub.
