UNILEVER-FOUNDRY

Unilever’s cleaning brand, Cif, has today announced its partnership with Helpling , Europe’s leading online marketplace for household services, to free people's time from their cleaning chores.

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On average, people spend two hours a day cleaning. Together with Helpling, Cif wants to give them this time back and make it easier than ever for people with busy lives to enjoy beautiful homes. Within a couple of taps on the Helpling app or clicks on the website, people can book a vetted and insured cleaning service provider and, at the same time, purchase Cif products to manage their household more conveniently.

The partnership, starting with a pilot in London, follows Unilever’s investment into the home-cleaning platform and is supported by Unilever Foundry. The joint venture comes as part of Cif’s wider strategic plan to find new, innovative ways to help people cope with increasingly stressful and frenetic lives.

Charlie Beevor, Vice President for Cif, commented: “In cities, such as London, people have extremely busy lifestyles that makes it hard to keep up with the household jobs. People are looking to technology to make their lives easier. By connecting people with trusted cleaners via the Helpling platform and our great CiF products, we free up their precious time to focus on what they enjoy most whilst keeping their homes beautiful to be enjoyed and lived in.”

Benedikt Franke, Co-founder of Helpling, commented: “Today’s consumers have come to expect businesses to offer solutions that make their lives easier – already, consumers don’t have enough time and want to make the most of what they have. Partnering with Cif allows us to collaborate with a well-established brand to help ease the labour of cleaning. Our service enables Cif to keep evolving and connecting with new audiences and adapt to changing digital consumer lifestyles.”

Unilever Foundry, a global platform for startups to collaborate with Unilever’s 400+brands, has been an entry point for innovative tech companies for over three years, piloting over 100 startups with Unilever brands in that time.

For more information about the partnership, please see here . To find out more about startup collaborations with Unilever Foundry, please visit: https://foundry.unilever.com/

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About Unilever Foundry

‘Unilever Foundry’ is a global platform for partnering with the world's best startups to accelerate innovation on a global scale. It brings together Unilever, startups, and entrepreneurs to encourage innovation and create new partnerships that deliver real and meaningful business impact. Unilever Foundry focuses on the following areas: Marketing Tech & Ad Tech, Enterprise Tech, Products & Ingredients, New Business Model Innovation and Social Impact.

The Unilever Foundry provides a single entry-point for innovative startups seeking to partner with Unilever, enabling the company’s global brands to experiment with and pilot new technologies more efficiently, effectively and speedily. It provides startups and entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop and work on global projects, access mentoring from marketing professionals, and tap into funding through Unilever Ventures. Startups are invited to apply to be part of the Unilever Foundry through visiting http://foundry.unilever.com/projects . More details on Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan can be found here: http://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living-2014/

The Unilever Foundry (Unilever.com/foundry) works closely with Unilever Ventures, the Venture capital arm of Unilever. Unilever Ventures invests in early-stage companies that could become strategically relevant to Unilever and can benefit from access to Unilever’s assets and capabilities. One of the key areas of investment for Unilever Ventures is Digital Marketing, encompassing marketing services business with a focus on mobile marketing, digital media and video, social media, content creation, eCommerce, shopper marketing and big data. Recent examples include Olapic and Blissmedia.

Helpling

Helpling is Europe’s leading online marketplace for home services. On the website or via the app, customers can book a vetted and insured service provider and gain back free time within a couple of clicks. For service providers, the innovative online service makes it easier than ever to find new clients and to manage when and where they want to work.

Helpling was founded in early 2014 by Benedikt Franke and Philip Huffmann. Among its investors are Rocket Internet, Mangrove Capital, Lakestar, APACIG and Accel. Helpling currently offers its services in 9 countries: Australia, Germany, Italy, France, Ireland, UK, UAE, the Netherlands and Singapore.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171010006301/en/

Contact:

Unilever Foundry
Tom Careless
Phone: +44 (0)20 3301 2086
Email: tom.careless@kaper.uk.com