Woman-Founded Chicago Startup Plumwise Secures Funding
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) November 18, 2014 -- Plumwise, a selective online community that allows members to share recommendations for the best neighborhood service providers, has secured $228K in seed funding.
Co-Founders Alex Buck and Meagan Newman, two professional women with six children between them, founded the company in 2013. Born out of frustration with existing tools for finding the best local providers for household and personal needs, a beta version of Plumwise was launched in September 2013. In 2014, membership has doubled, and the number of highly-recommended businesses on the website has increased by 40%.
Plumwise members trust the website to help organize detailed family vacations, find care providers for children and elderly loved ones, and plan for some of the most important moments in their lives. “We give our members the one thing we all need—more time. We know when a member asks us for help…they’re trusting us with their family. So we work tirelessly to recommend only the best, most trusted providers without confusing or conflicting reviews,” said co-founder Alex Buck.
The capital will be used to add staff, grow membership, and expand on existing product offerings. “We’ve seen our members use the site in new and exciting ways in recent months. We plan on using this injection of funding to increase the types of services we provide our members and businesses, while growing the number of providers and members.” said Buck. The company also recently joined 1871 to access the great resources available as part of the thriving Chicago startup community.
Those who would like to join can be referred by an existing member, or can request an invitation for membership at http://www.plumwise.com. Membership is free, and for the time being, includes the premiere concierge service. Businesses can only become trusted service providers on the website by receiving a recommendation from a member, and are then heavily vetted by the website’s curators.
ABOUT PLUMWISE: Plumwise (http://www.plumwise.com) is a selective online community devoted to saving members time. It connects members to service providers without endless reviews, vendor influence, or mediocre opinions. Members contribute business provider recommendations based on first-hand experience, which are then scrutinized, investigated, and interrogated to determine whether a provider is “Plumworthy.” If a member does not find a service provider recommendation to meet their needs, the company also offers concierge service. Plumwise empowers members to focus on what matters most– more time with loved ones.
Kristi Klemm, Plumwise, http://www.plumwise.com, +1 (608) 770-3228, [email protected]
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