Hello Alfred

Hello Alfred is an American technology company that connects consumers with on-demand and local services to complete errands and tasks. Members are assigned a personal home manager, or Alfred, and make requests in the company's app.

Hello Alfred
Private
IndustryHome services
FoundedSeptember 2014
HeadquartersNew York City, United States
Number of locations
8, Boston, Denver, New York City, San Francisco, Jersey City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., Stamford, Connecticut
Key people
Marcela Sapone, Jess Beck, Christian Bjelland V (Founding Team); Bijan Sabet, Scott Sandell (Board Members)
ServicesHome logistics, Home services
Websitehelloalfred.com

The company has publicly raised $63.5 million in funding and operates in Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Jersey City, Stamford, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York City, with stated plans to expand to several other cities.[1]

History
Marcela Sapone, CEO & Co-Founder, 2015

Hello Alfred was founded in March 2014 by Marcela Sapone and Jess Beck, both former McKinsey & Company employees.[2] The two were attending Harvard Business School at the time, along with founding team member Christian Bjelland V.

The co-founders first developed the service for their personal use as a way to find more time.[3] They began to develop it commercially after neighbors began asking for it themselves.[4]

In April 2014, the company won the Harvard Business School New Venture Competition.[5] In September 2014, the company proceeded to win TechCrunch Disrupt SF.[6]

In November 2014, the company raised a $2 million seed funding round with investments from Spark Capital, SV Angel, and Crunchfund.[7] After its seed round the company launched in New York and moved its headquarters there, while continuing its Boston operations. In April 2015 Hello Alfred raised a $10.5 million Series A with investments from New Enterprise Associates, Spark Capital, Sherpa Ventures, and CrunchFund.[8]

In May 2015, the company purchased key assets from New York based on-demand company WunWun.[9]

Hello Alfred works with real estate developers and property managers to offer its "in-home commerce" platform[10] to residents as an amenity. In 2017, Hello Alfred signed deals with The Related Companies and several other firms.[11]

Reception

Worker Classification

The company has received attention for hiring its Alfreds as W-2 employees and offering a starting hourly wage of $16.[12] It has made statements in the debate about worker classification in the sharing economy. Hello Alfred classifies its workers as W2 employees instead of 1099 independent contractors and therefore offers benefits and healthcare. The company was highlighted in a New York Times op-ed for its decision to treat its labor force as employees.[13]

Awards

Hello Alfred won TechCrunch Disrupt SF in 2014.[6] The company was recently selected as one of Fast Company's Top 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World.[14]

Other

Hello Alfred is considered one of the first companies in the On Demand Economy 2.0,[15] and is also seen as commodifying home management services.[16]

gollark: Unfortunately, there was high cancer risk or something and it stopped working as well after a few years.
gollark: You actually can just swap out the incorrect DNA for correct DNA. IIRC this is being tried as a treatment for... hemophilia or something, I forget.
gollark: We can definitely make robots just go around destroying proteins or magically assembling them with no issues whatsoever.
gollark: Ah, because that's totally practical, yes.
gollark: That was a great Saturday.

References
  1. Liam La Guerre (31 May 2018). "Invesco, DivcoWest Lead $40M Series B Funding in Butler Service Hello Alfred". The Observer. Commercial Observer.
  2. Jack Smith IV (10 June 2015). "A Fixer For Your Life". The Observer.
  3. Lara Casselman (11 February 2016). "Game Changers with Marcela Sapone - She's Mercedes". She's Mercedes.
  4. Maya Kosoff (17 June 2015). "Alfred founders explain why they created a startup to do your chores - Business Insider". Business Insider.
  5. Cal Borchers (29 April 2014). "Harvard Business School names New Venture Competition winners". Beta Boston.
  6. Sarah Perez (10 September 2014). "And The Winner Of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2014 Is…Alfred!". TechCrunch. AOL.
  7. Jordan Crook (18 November 2014). "Alfred Goes Live In NY With A Fresh $2M In Seed From Spark Capital". TechCrunch. AOL.
  8. Iris Dorbian (14 April 2015). "Hello Alfred collects $10.5 mln Series A". PE HUB.
  9. Ryan Lawler (11 May 2015). "Alfred Purchases WunWun Tech, Employees In Fire Sale". TechCrunch. AOL.
  10. Marcela Sapone (7 November 2017). "Sorry, Jeff Bezos. Amazon Key won't get online retailers through the front door". ReCode. The Verge.
  11. Samantha Sharf (30 November 2017). "With Hello Alfred Partnership, Related Seeks To Make Time The Hottest New Amenity In Luxury Housing". Forbes Business. Forbes.
  12. Curt Woodward (18 November 2014). "Home-Assistant Startup Alfred Launches, Paying---Gasp!---Real Wages". Xconomy.
  13. The Editorial Board (10 April 2017). "The Gig Economy's False Promise". New York Times.
  14. "FastCo 50 Most Innovative". Fast Company. 1 March 2018.
  15. Coby Berman (24 November 2014). "The On Demand Economy 2.0 — Uber for X". Medium.
  16. "Personal butler app aims to declutter your life". CBS News. 18 August 2015.
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