Phoenix-based software startup Clyn has been selected for the February cohort of Techstars Austin.
Clyn, an online platform that connects cleaning professionals to customers, is among 12 companies participating in the accelerator program, which began Feb. 13. The three-month program provides startups with mentors, funding, workshops and a network of corporate partners, investors and alumni.
“It has been very surreal and we're very grateful to be here,” Clyn founder Diana Muturia said of the Techstars Austin accelerator.
Clyn’s Kenyan team of employees obtained U.S. visas to join Muturia in the cohort. It’s the first Kenyan team to participate in Techstars in more than seven years, Muturia said.
“A lot of our friends and family are rooting for us. It's not something that we were expecting to do,” Muturia said. “We're very honored and we know that it does bring a lot of responsibility on us, but the support that we have from Techstars is phenomenal. We're really excited to see what's going to come next.”
Clyn received $120,000 in funding via Techstars Austin and was assigned resources and mentors.
Muturia is looking to fine-tune Clyn's platform to improve the user experience, she said.
“Our goal is to be really solid in the app — the technical architecture and the business infrastructure. That's something we're very passionate about,” Muturia said. “By the time we get out of Techstars, our expectation is that we'll be ready for the market and really take off.”
Clyn’s software-as-a-service marketplace has more than 3,000 users and between 200 to 400 cleaners. The app is operational in the U.S. and Canada with the company’s main markets in New York, Florida, Texas and Arizona, Muturia said.
“We have the highest organic growth in the cleaning industry when it comes to marketplaces,” she said.
A passion project
Muturia, an immigrant from Kenya, founded Clyn after coming to U.S. to attend college, where she studied math and mechanical engineering. However, she had to drop out of her courses after she was unable to afford tuition. At one point, she was homeless and cleaning homes to put food on the table, she said.
After Muturia and a friend relocated to Phoenix, she began cleaning homes in the Valley.
“One home led to another referral and another referral, and it just became something that was sustaining me as I was trying to figure out how to get back to school,” Muturia said. “Through that, the idea popped up and I said, ‘Wait a minute. I know the challenges that go on being a cleaner. How about I figure out how to help other cleaners in the same community?’”
Some of those challenges are creating rapport, finding customers and negotiating prices. Muturia thought if cleaners could connect with customers online, it would save time, in addition to boosting their client base.
Muturia developed Clyn on the side while also working at local tech companies Insight Enterprises and Cisco. She left Cisco last year to focus on Clyn full-time.
In October, Clyn was among the first cohort of Amazon Web Services’ accelerator program for female founders.
“There are some things that we didn't have as a foundation that now we do have,” Muturia said of Clyn’s participation in the AWS cohort. “It really did just put us in a position where we can make the impact that we've always wanted to have.”
Clyn aims to continue raising funds to expand its platform nationwide and eventually into Africa.
“Our big, audacious goal is to get to a million dollars in revenue,” Muturia said. “I think it's quite possible and with the support that we have from Techstars, and also the ongoing support we have from AWS, I think we’ll definitely get there.”
