Justin Kan’s startup Exec has been busy over the last few months, adding a new housecleaning service to its on-demand task management service. It’s also been busy adding features to its mobile app. The latest version of the app, being released today, is aimed at making the whole process of ordering an on-demand assistant to do anything more fun and painless.
Some of the key features include the ability for its users to set times and places for tasks to get done, since not everything that an exec will be asked to do needs to be done immediately. Users will also be able to queue up multiple tasks, whereas before they were only able to hire one Exec assistant at a time. Execs can now upload receipts, so that users can see how much was spent and have the record for themselves. It has also started providing tips for certain types of jobs that it receives often — like Ikea runs.
In addition to some of the more useful new features, the Exec team has also added sound effects, new icons and animations to the app. A lot of the new stuff is just here to make the app more fun — check out the easter egg that lets you switch from digital sound effects to human sound effects in the settings — which is probably what you need when you’re paying someone $25 an hour to re-arrange your closet or assemble Ikea furniture for you. Since being launched in February, Exec has run a number of stunts to get San Francisco residents using the app, like having investor Shervin Pishevar clean homes while being pitched, doing food runs at AT&T Park, or letting users rent time with a startup founder.
The company has been working to refine its on-demand housecleaning service, which it began testing in September and formally launched in October. Earlier this year, it rolled out corporate accounts, allowing companies to buy Exec time for their employees or allot a certain amount of time each month for them to use.
San Francisco-based Exec has raised $3.3 million from investors such as Loopt’s Sam Altman, Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison, Parse co-founder Tikhon Bernstam, Gmail creator Paul Buchheit, Google board member Ram Shriram, Matt Ocko, Delicious creator Joshua Schachter, and others.