On-demand laundry service Washio is only the most recent "Uber-for-X" startup to shut down.
Washio, an app through which users request on-demand laundry service, pick-up, and drop-off, recently announced it had permanently closed operations.
The Santa Monica-based startup garnered millions in investments when it launched in 2013. As Alison Griswold recalls in Quartz:
Those years were peak Uber-for-X, as entrepreneurs raced to replicate the formula that was working so well for the ride-hailing industry: using a smartphone app to connect customers with legions of independently contracted task-doers.
But the wild popularity, and profitability, of ride-hailing apps did not necessarily translate as well as hoped to an "instant-anything" model.
Unlike Uber, which gave consumers a better ride option than taxis at a cheaper price, these laundry [and other] apps are and were middlemen selling convenience at a premium, and for a service most people use far less frequently than transportation.
"Even 'asset-light' businesses can be cash-intensive to run," Griswold notes; many such startups initially relied on a subsidy-heavy model that has since become "untenable." She names ten more on-demand startups that have failed to compete with traditional services—suggesting the Uber-for-X bubble may have popped.
FULL STORY: The ultimate symbol of the Uber-for-X bubble is out of business
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
New York Transit Agency Launches Performance Dashboard
The tool increases transparency about the agency’s performance on a variety of metrics.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly
The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.