Startup Helpling raises 20m euros in funding; eyes expansion in Europe, Asia-Pacific

HELPLING, an online marketplace for household services, has secured 20 million euros (S$30 million) in fresh funding led by European media group, ProSiebenSat.1.

This comes as the company seeks to expand in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, including Singapore.

Existing investors such as venture capital firms Lakestar and Mangrove Capital also contributed to this "strategic investment", where Helpling would be able to tap the media assets of ProSiebenSat.1, the company told BT on Thursday.

This brings the total funding raised by the group since its 2014 launch to 87 million euros, Helpling said.

"The company achieved profitability this summer across all markets, and will use the new investment to drive significant growth and expansion across additional verticals."

Philip Huffmann, co-founder of Helpling said: "The investment is an important step towards Helpling becoming the hub for all home services.

"Germany and Singapore are at the forefront of our innovation - being the first markets where we are extending our business into adjacent services like air conditioning servicing, laundry and furniture assembling. In summer 2021, Helpling plans to reach a turnover in a three-digit million euro range across all markets."

Berlin-based Helpling entered the Singapore market in 2015 via the acquisition of local cleaning services platform, Spickify, for an undisclosed sum.

Noting that Singapore is still one of the fastest-growing markets within the group, James Lim, managing director of Helpling Asia Pacific, said: "Our laser-focus on customer experience has made Helpling Singapore a highly-profitable business since 2018.

"We are confident that the extension of our services would bring even more convenience to our customers' everyday lives."