Technology isn’t there yet: Robots still can’t clean your home floor to ceiling.
But a new downtown-based business called Maidly ( www.maidly.net)promises to at least make it easier to book a cleaning service.
Having raised $25,000 in seed money a few months ago from VegasTechFund, Rachel Baker, 30, dreamed up an app that allows the cleaning-averse to use a smartphone or the Internet to receive a cleaning estimate and book the service. Baker says such an app doesn’t yet exist in Las Vegas.
Maidly began taking a handful of jobs in October but honed Maidly’s launch after obtaining the $25,000 loan. Baker, who moved here about a year ago from London with her husband, Andrew Crump, and their two daughters, isn’t a programmer or coder. She hired people to do the coding.
But Baker does have a business background, having had a successful high-end hair extensions operation in London before moving here.
“What’s most exciting is the jobs I’ll be able to create for local residents -- and I love cleaning,” Baker said, adding she was raised by her dad, who she jokingly says was “very messy -- I was always cleaning up for him, which is probably why I’m good at cleaning.”
With hourly cleaning rates of between $30 and $35, Maidly will let those who log in via the phone application get a suggested price. Price is based on square footage. Cleaners will do interior windows, bathrooms, kitchens – the works, including a special oil treatment for wood floors.
“We can give more or less, depending on the customer,” Baker said. “Our plan is to make this as effortless as possible.”
Baker’s husband, Crump, also has a business that is a VegasTechFund recipient. His Bluefields.com provides a smartphone platform that helps organize games, practices and other needs for amateur sports teams and leagues.