Soon laundry may not be the chore it is today, with the market for laundry services presenting new avenues for investors and entrepreneurs in the retail sector, say experts from Laundry Project India Pvt Ltd. Laundry Project is a startup that addresses the requirements of retail households by providing professional laundry and dry cleaning services. “The organised laundry market is in the state that the hairdressing industry in India was in about two decades ago. We are here to make this unorganised sector organised. KPMG estimates India’s organised laundry market at approximately `5,000 crore, while the Indian franchise association estimates it to be worth `3,200 crore and several changes in society have ensured that the market is huge and continues to grow fairly fast,” said Balachandar R, CEO, Laundry Project India, at a press briefing here on Saturday.
Balachandar believes that the corporatisation of the laundry business has come of age since this is an organised market handling a very large volume on a daily basis. Several leading hospitality chains have already signed up with Laundry Project since its inception in 2012. The company is now ready to take its retail face, called ‘wassup’ – derived from wash up – to a higher level through the franchise model. While the actual laundry will be done through the company’s plants, the collection, delivery and other customer services will be offered through franchise outlets present in neighbourhoods. “We target the laundry outsourcing market of the regular day-to-day wear of the middle class and not just the expensive saree or suit,” says Balachandar.
Laundry Project is at present operating with six factories in Chennai and Bangalore and is set to commence operations in Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Pune within six months. There are 10 wassup stores in Chennai.
Laundry Project India, which is funded by Das Star ventures, has also tied up with ITI Karnataka to provide laundry and hospitality training.