43. Hassle

Founders: Alex Depledge, Tom Nimmo and Jules Coleman
Founded: March 2012 (launched June 2012)
Website: www.hassle.com

Listed in our 2013 Startups 100, Hassle creates exactly the opposite of what its (new) name implies; the business was originally called Teddle when we featured it last year. The platform allows Londoners to browse and book local, background-checked cleaners for their home quickly and easily, eliminating the frustrating process of trying to find a good one yourself. A graduate of UK accelerator platform Tech Stars London, the uptake for Hassle across the capital had been phenomenal, with the service now used by thousands of cleaners and homeowners alike.

It’s clearly an industry with plenty of potential; as newcomer and competitor Housekeep points out – the cleaning market is worth over £4bn so it’s no surprise that there are lots of new cleaning marketplaces springing up. Hassle marked a major milestone in May when it successfully closed a major $6m Series A funding round from Accel Partners – cementing its potential, this is set to take the business into other major cities across the UK and Europe for the first time, making the next 12 months absolutely pivotal for the business.