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  • Home Services Marketplace Redbeacon Launches iPhone App To Get Quotes On The Go

    Leena Rao

    Leena Rao is currently a Senior Editor for TechCrunch. She recently finished graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she studied business journalism and videography. From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn Maloney’s community outreach and relations efforts in New York City. She graduated from Columbia University in 2003, where she was... → Learn More

    Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
    redbeacon

    Home services marketplace and TechCrunch50 winner Redbeacon is debuting its first mobile offering today—an iPhone app. The app essentially allows homeowners to be able to get quotes for services on the go without having to make service professionals visit their homes.

    Redbeacon lets users search, browse and book local home service providers, including plumbers, roofers, painters, and house cleaners, on its website. Service providers pay a fee to Redbeacon for new paying customers for a lead. The company has expanded from San Francisco to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Atlanta, Seattle, and Houston.

    With the mobile app, people can shoot a video, take a photo or record a voice memo to show and describe the home care need. For example, homeowners can quickly show the window that needs to be fixed, the roof that is leaking or the room they want painted. Service professionals can then give users accurate quotes without having to schedule a home visit.

    Redbeacon’s iPhone app lets users select from common home service providers like Handyman, Electrician, House Cleaner, Plumber and Yard Worker to make a request for services. It uses the phone’s GPS to locate the job and matches the request with quality pros in the area, who then compete for the job and provide quotes.

    Users can then browse through all the quotes received, review home service providers’ Redbeacon score, profiles, prices and user reviews, and book an appointment to get the job done from their phone while on the go.

    Founded by former Googlers Aaron Lee, Ethan Anderson and Yaron Binur, Redbeacon has raised $7.4 million in funding led by Mayfield Fund and Venrock.


    Company: Redbeacon
    Website: redbeacon.com
    Launch Date: November 2008
    Funding: $7.4M

    Redbeacon allows consumers who need a service performed to find and interact with local businesses and professionals. Redbeacon goes beyond returning business listings with ratings and reviews by helping consumers determine the right service provider for their specific needs and allowing them to compare price quotes and book appointments online. Consumers describe what they need done and specify when and where their job should take place. Using patent-pending machine learning and semantic technology, Redbeacon determines the best...

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