![]() ![]() ![]() and said it expects to expand to 20 markets by the end of 2021. Nana has to date registered hundreds of technicians in 12 markets across the U.S. Replenysh raises a $2 million seed round to streamline recycling for buyers and sellers It also seems to be slowly expanding into other home services too, alongside appliance repair (which remains its main business). Over time, Zamir said, the plan is not just to take in jobs and send out technicians to fix things in an Uber-style dispatch service - but to expand it to fit the kinds of next-generation appliances that are being built today, with IoT diagnostic monitoring and helping also to integrate these appliances into connected homes. Nana already has partnerships with major appliance and warranty companies, including GE, Miele, Samsung, Assurant, Cinch and First American Home Warranty, so this is how it gets most of its work in, but it also accepts direct requests from consumers for repair of dishwashers, refrigerators, ovens, stoves, washers and dryers. Once you take and pass a course - currently remote - you have the option (but not requirement) to register on Nana’s platform to become a repair person who picks up jobs through it to get jobs fixing that particular issue. These classes are available to anyone - an individual simply interested in learning how to fix a machine, but more likely someone looking to pick up a skill and then use it to make some money. ![]() Nana’s proposition starts with free lessons to fix a range of appliances - currently dishwashers, refrigerators, ovens, stoves, washers and dryers - and their typical breakdown/poor performance issues to anyone who wants to know how to repair them. But what if you had the liquidity to do that? We’re talking about creating jobs, but also saving the environment.” We’re in a vicious cycle with appliances, and it’s partly because there aren’t enough people with the knowledge to repair them. “There are 5.9 million tons of municipal solid waste in the U.S.,” he said in an interview, “and only 50% of that is capable of getting recycled. Nana - full name Nana Technologies (and not to be confused with Nana Technology, tech built for older adults) - is partly a labor/future of work play, partly an educational play, partly a tech/IoT play and partly an ecological play, in the eyes of Zamir, who himself trained as an appliance repairperson, running his own successful business in the Bay Area before pivoting it into a training platform and marketplace. Founder and CEO David Zamir is not actually an Uber alum, but one of his first employees, VP of Engineering Oliver Nicholas is an early Uber engineer and the company has also found a lot of traction of Uber drivers this year, after many found themselves out of work after the chilling effect that the pandemic had on ridesharing. Nana has now raised $10.7 million, with past backers including Alpha Bridge Ventures, Bob Lee and the Uber Syndicate, an investment vehicle to back Uber alums in new ventures. The seed round is being led by Shripriya Mahesh of Spero Ventures Next Play Ventures (ex-LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner’s new fund), Lachy Groom, Scott Belsky, Geoff Donaker of Burst Capital and Michael Staton of Learn Capital are among those also participating. Nana, which runs a free academy to teach people how to fix appliances, and then gives students the option of becoming a part of its own marketplace to connect them to people needing repairs - has picked up $6 million. But in what might be a sign of the times, today a startup that’s focused on e-learning and the subsequent job market for a completely different end of the spectrum - home services - is announcing some funding to continue building out its business in earnest. A lot of the focus in online education - and, let’s face it, education overall - has been about professional development for knowledge workers, education for K-12 and how best to deliver cost-effective, engaging higher learning to those in college and beyond. ![]()
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