CITY BOSS INVESTS £2M IN ‘UBER FOR LAUNDRY’ APP THAT DELIVERS CLOTHES ANYWHERE
MICHAEL SPENCER, the City’s wealthiest self-made man, has invested more than £2 million in an app that’s been described as “Uber for laundry” — several decades after he last had to iron his own shirts.
The London tech company, called Laundrapp, provides a full dry cleaning and laundry collection and delivery service. Customers place an order on the app, and the company’s staff will pick up and deliver their clothes anywhere in London. It uses a network of dry cleaners around the capital. Mr Spencer, the founder of the Icap brokerage, said: “I wish Laundrapp had existed when I was a young broker. It would have made my life so much easier. So when they pitched the idea to me I was hooked right away.” The firm was launched in January by Ed Relf, a tech entrepreneur and former marketing chief at the Moshi Monsters games creator MindCandy.
Other big City investors backing the business include Sports Direct tycoon Jeff Blue. Relf describes the firm as a “remote control for people’s laundry”. It competes with a rival service, ZipJet.
Spencer founded ICAP as Intercapital brokers in 1986. It became the world’s biggest interdealer broker — acting as an intermediary between banks and their investors. He is now estimated to be worth more than £500 million.