Team Startupcity

• Dhobi G raises Rs 1.5 crore from Indian Overseas Bank for expansion.
• Plans to set up laundry facilities in five more campuses, targeting 20,000 students in the next 12 months.
• Streamlined systems and trained workforce to ensure efficient, scalable laundry services.

Chennai-based startup Dhobi G has raised Rs 1.5 crore from Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) to support its expansion plans. The funding will be used to set up laundry facilities across five additional campuses, catering to over 7,500 students in the next phase of growth, said Ravi Ranjan, founder and CEO of Dhobi G.

The startup, which primarily serves colleges and universities, plans to extend its operations to more colleges in Chennai while also exploring markets in northern India, Bengaluru, and Coimbatore. “In the next 12 months, we aim to serve over 20,000 students”, Mr. Ranjan told.

Dhobi G was officially incubated on November 18, 2022, under Velocity Cohort 2 and onboarded its first client, SRM University, in August 2023. The company was founded by three engineering graduates Ravi Ranjan (CEO), Ankur Gupta (COO), and Daksh Sabharwal (CMO) who were classmates.

Reflecting on the startup’s journey, Mr. Ranjan said their initial venture, an e-commerce laundry app, faced operational challenges. “One partner laundry started receiving over 10 orders a day, leading to late deliveries, wrong clothes, and unhappy customers”, he recalled.

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The team identified two core issues: an unskilled workforce unprepared for volume and diverse fabrics, and unorganized systems with no tracking or accountability. “We tested, failed, and rebuilt until the system could run smoothly without chaos”, he added.

With this funding, Dhobi G aims to strengthen its operational model and scale its student-focused laundry services efficiently across multiple cities, positioning itself as a key player in the organized laundry segment for educational institutions.