Taskrabbit takes over on-demand moving service Dolly in latest twist for former Seattle startup
Taskrabbit has quietly absorbed the operations of Dolly, a Seattle-based on-demand marketplace for moving services.
Dolly’s hiring page says the company “joined the Taskrabbit family in April of 2024” and describes Dolly as a Taskrabbit division. Taskrabbit’s support site notes that Dolly is “now a Taskrabbit company.”
Dolly’s privacy policy also describes Dolly as an affiliate of Taskrabbit, the longtime marketplace for independent workers that was acquired by IKEA in 2017.
Dolly’s business license with the state of Washington lists Taskrabbit CEO Ania Smith and CFO Amy Zhang as its governors.
We’ve followed up with Taskrabbit to learn more about how Dolly joined the company, and we’ll update this story if we hear back.
Dolly launched in 2014 with a service that connected customers with movers for short-distance deliveries. It raised $17 million and landed partnerships with retailers such as Lowe’s and Costco to deliver large items such as furniture. The company is active in 45 cities.
New York-based moving services company Updater acquired Dolly in 2021. We reached out to Updater for comment.
Dolly has less than 20 employees based in the Seattle region, according to LinkedIn.
The post on Taskrabbit’s site notes that the two brands will remain separate, but that in some cities where Taskrabbit customers request apartment moves, they may be referred to Dolly.
Dolly’s chief technology officer, Scott Porad, became the vice president of engineering at Taskrabbit in May, according to his LinkedIn.
Former Dolly CEO Mike Howell left the company in 2023 to take an exec role at Updater. Then this year in March, he joined Taskrabbit as senior vice president of moving and delivery, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Howell founded Dolly with Kelby Hawn, Jason Norris, and Chad Wittman — all three left the company before the deal with Updater.
Dolly’s investors included Maveron, Unlock Venture Partners, Hyde Park Venture Partners, KGC Capital, Unlock Venture Partners, Version One Ventures, and former Amazon exec Jeff Wilke.