Bootstrapped Queensland rising star The Laundry Lady bags $1 million Seed round for global ambitions

Sunshine Coast-based laundry solution The Laundry Lady, has ended 13 years of bootstrapping to raise $1 million in Seed funding for international expansion. 

The round was led by Brisbane investor and Techniche chair Karl Jacoby with support from Brisbane Angels, AngelLoop, AI ethicist Dr Catriona Wallace, and several local angel investors.

The Queensland government’s Female Founders Co-Investment Fund and Austrade’s Export Market Development Grant also backed The Laundry Lady, which has embraced the AI era with its TimeBoss platform, one-stop shop of tools for managing service businesses.

The Laundry Lady was founded in 2012 by Susan Toft, and now operates in Australia and New Zealand via more than 375 home-based contractors who provide pickup and delivery laundry services to residential, business, NDIS and Aged Care customers through online bookings & payments.

Toft, the CEO, said the raise marks a pivotal moment in The Laundry Lady’s growth, with Canada and the UK seen as prime markets for disruption

“Having built this business from the ground up over the past decade with no external capital, we’ve demonstrated both the demand for our service and the effectiveness of our business model,” she said.

“This funding will accelerate our technology development and support our expansion plans into Canada and the United Kingdom, where we see tremendous opportunity for our tech-enabled contractor model.”

The  new capital will be used to enhance the TimeBoss platform with mobile apps, AI tools, and advanced segmentation capabilities, alongside the offshore push.

Toft said the Female Founders Co-Investment Fund’s participation underscores the company’s alignment with growing support for women-led businesses in Australia’s startup ecosystem.

“We’ve built a business that not only provides an essential service to busy families and businesses but also creates flexible income opportunities predominantly for women,” she said.

“With this investment, we’re ready to take The Laundry Lady to the world stage, demonstrating that Australian female founders can build global businesses.”