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It’s the question everyone dreads: “Will you help me move?”
The sheer terror that many people feel when faced with moving an apartment full of furniture or even just a single heavy item is the driving force behind Lugg – a new on-demand moving app. The company, founded about a year ago in San Francisco, expanded its service to San Jose on Thursday.
“We like to say it’s your new friend with a truck,” said co-founder and CEO Jordan Brown.
The company works similarly to Uber. Drivers of trucks or vans register as “loggers” and are matched via the app with people who need to transport items. The goal is to have a truck on site no later than 15 to 20 minutes after the request, Brown said. This quick turnaround could be especially handy for trips to Costco or Ikea, where customers need a way to bring large purchases home. (No word on whether the Luggers will stick around to help you assemble the Ikea couch.)
The average trip within a 10-mile radius costs about $50, Brown said. This includes a base fee of $35 plus an additional $2 per mile. The drivers keep around 60 percent of the fare, the rest goes to Lugg.
The company expanded to Palo Alto and San Mateo last month. With the latest expansion to San Jose, users can request a truck from anywhere on the Peninsula, San Francisco or Oakland. Fremont and Hayward are coming soon, Brown said.
Brown said Lugg has raised about $4.5 million from investors including Sequoia Capital and SV Angel and is also backed by Y Combinator.
The company joins other companies in the on-demand moving space, such as Ghostruck, which offers services in San Francisco. Dolly and Wagon offer similar services in several other major U.S. cities, but have not yet come to the Bay Area.
Mike Howell, Dolly’s co-founder and CEO, told GeekWire that the team moved the company to Seattle because they wanted to avoid the “droning noise and crowded hype of the Bay Area.”
Photo: A team of vans picks up furniture from Costco. (Courtesy of Lugg).
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For more information, see the Mercury News