AUSTIN, Texas & SAN DIEGO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LawnStarter, the leading provider of on-demand lawn and outdoor care, today announced the acquisition of Lawn Love in a cash-and-stock deal that creates a nationwide on-demand powerhouse for lawn care and other outdoor services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Austin-based Lawn Starter and San Diego-based Lawn Love are leaders in the $100 billion U.S. lawn care and other outdoor services market, where activity is surging after COVID-19. As people spend more time at home, they seek easier ways to manage upkeep and improve their homes, and are more comfortable doing so on a mobile app. Combined, LawnStarter and Lawn Love will also benefit providers of outdoor home services by enabling them to take on more jobs, thereby boosting the revenue of thousands of small businesses across the country.
“The combination of LawnStarter and Lawn Love will further propel growth of the on-demand economy for lawn care and other outdoor services,” said LawnStarter co-founder and CEO Steve Corcoran. “Joining forces enables LawnStarter and Lawn Love to be even more disruptive together as we continue to revolutionize the outdoor services industry.”
LawnStarter and Lawn Love are graduates of two prominent accelerators, Techstars and Y Combinator. The companies have benefited from the rise in on-demand marketplaces dominated by companies such as Uber, Lyft, Doordash and GrubHub, where PwC predicts the global value of the sharing economy—driven primarily by millennials—will reach $335 billion by 2025.
Lawn Love founder and CEO Jeremy Yamaguchi says his company’s acquisition by LawnStarter allows both businesses to better capitalize on the growth of on-demand, tech-enabled services since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and positions the combined company as a clear market leader. “This deal effectively teleports both Lawn Love and LawnStarter years into the future,” Yamaguchi says. “It’s a dramatic acceleration toward our goal of empowering small business owners by providing the technology and tools to help them grow their businesses, compete with the big guys and ultimately thrive.”
The home services market has seen a flurry of activity in the last year. Home service marketplace Porch, which has been building market share through acquisitions, went public via SPAC and has a market cap of $1.7 billion. Thumbtack raised $275 million, nearly doubling its valuation since its last fundraise in 2019. Earlier this month, private equity firm KKR announced plans to acquire home services platform Neighborly from Harvest Partners. Contractor-management software provider ServiceTitan has raised a total of $1.1 billion with a valuation of $9.5 billion.
LawnStarter and Lawn Love will operate as separate brands, led by Corcoran as CEO. LawnStarter’s headquarters will stay in Austin. Yamaguchi is remaining with the combined company.
About LawnStarter
LawnStarter saves consumers time, money and energy by providing easy access to providers of lawn care and other outdoor services in their area. LawnStarter has no contracts, all payments are made online, and consumers can manage their accounts on LawnStarter’s website or mobile app.
Founded in 2013 and a graduate of Techstars Austin, LawnStarter has received over $27 million in funding. Investors include Lerer Hippeau, Edison Partners, Bull Creek Capital, Gary Vaynerchuk, Cotter Cunningham, Rony Kahan and Varsha Rao.
About Lawn Love
Lawn Love aims to build a smarter lawn care marketplace, providing customers with a modern, streamlined experience while helping lawn care professionals operate more efficiently. Lawn Love has collected $6.7 million in funding since its founding in 2014. Investors include Bullpen Capital, Y Combinator, Alexis Ohanian, Joe Montana and Barbara Corcoran.
For more information about LawnStarter and Lawn Love, email media@lawnstarter.com.
