Rick Rome | Source | CEO and Founder at WashClub

Rick Rome is a former Morgan Stanley trader who launched WashClub, a wash & fold and delivery dry cleaner in Manhattan. WashClub provides eco-friendly washing, folding, dry cleaning, and commercial laundry services to New York City, diligently serving the residents and businesses of Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Rick was inspired to create WashClub in 2009 after his former dry cleaner refused to fix without charge some buttons on one of his shirts – damage that the dry cleaner himself had caused. Despite Rick protesting that he was a loyal customer and deserved better treatment, the dry cleaner stuck to his guns. Rick was galvanized – he went out and bought a 6000-square-foot laundry facility. He soon realized that $10 billion a year laundry and dry-cleaning industry in NYC was plagued by unclear communication, unclear product offerings, and inconsistent service, with 90% of the industry made up of independent operators. Rick’s goal was to offer NYC a laundry pickup and delivery service that was convenient and technologically savvy. Rick took about a year to develop and battle-test the software he needed for Wash Club. Within four years, WashClub had gone from zero customers per year to over 12,000.

Between 2016 and 2022, WashClub grew its customer base by more than 400% and currently has over 100,000 users active on the app today.