Doorly raises GBP £600,000 to expand UK home services

Doorly has expanded from a mobile barber-booking app into an on-demand home services marketplace operating in nine UK cities, following a £600,000 investment round.

The business previously traded as Appacut and launched in Manchester in 2024, focusing on booking barbers for home visits. Now operating as Doorly, it offers a broader mix of home and personal services supplied by independent providers and small businesses.

It currently operates in Birmingham, Brighton, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield, and is preparing to expand into Glasgow, Coventry, Bristol and Bath, Newcastle upon Tyne and Portsmouth.

More than 1,000 service providers have signed up to the platform, with a further 250 applicants awaiting clearance.

Broader services

Doorly groups its listings into eight categories: hair, beauty, pet, home, family, vehicle, lifestyle and learning. Services include beauty treatments, grooming, spray tanning, babysitting and baby massage, tutoring, IV vitamin shots, dog walking and training, flat-pack furniture assembly, personal chef services, car valeting, and cleaning and ironing.

The app follows a familiar marketplace model: users browse local providers, choose a time and location, and pay through the platform. Its focus remains on high-density urban areas, where on-demand services tend to see higher repeat usage.

Founder Michael Lawes said the expansion reflects demand for home-based services among consumers seeking convenience and flexible scheduling.

"Being able to book services on demand is very attractive to people who may be time-pressed and want to fulfil their personal needs at home," Lawes said.

"We're pleased to be offering great convenience, flexibility, value and service to customers at their door, while providing a marketplace for solo entrepreneurs and businesses to offer their services and generate income, with some already earning over £50,000 a year on the platform," he added.

Funding and leadership

The £600,000 funding round includes backing from Steve Oliver, co-founder and chief executive of musicMagpie, who has joined as non-executive chairman.

Lawes said the funding has supported the rebrand and expansion beyond its original barber-led proposition.

"Having successfully proven the concept with Appacut, the funding we've recently received has enabled us to rapidly expand the scope and geography of services we can offer," he said. "Our sole focus is on making the provision of great services at home as easy as possible via a single platform. We wanted a name that truly reflects this, which is how Doorly was born, as it brings services to your door."

The team includes chief technical officer Jordan Ryan Madeley, who previously developed the Eat Out To Help Out app during the pandemic. Doorly has not disclosed further details on its technology stack or product roadmap.

Marketplace model

Providers bring their own equipment and set their own fees. Doorly charges a booking fee rather than taking a commission on the service price.

"Ease of booking is one of our key differentiators, and the providers come fully equipped. They set their own fee and get the full amount from the customer; we just charge a booking fee," Lawes said.

Doorly is seeking to build on consumer familiarity with rapid booking and fulfilment in other app-led sectors, citing delivery and ride-hailing platforms as shaping expectations for speed and convenience.

"The Deliveroo and Uber models have shown that people do appreciate a fast and convenient way to obtain services from trusted providers," Lawes said.

Oliver said expanding beyond barbers had always been part of the plan, with inbound customer interest helping determine which services to add.

"It was always the plan to expand Appacut to offer multiple services, and now we are accelerating our strategy. Opportunities have come to us, as people have asked us to provide other services. Doorly is disruptive and uses brilliant technology. We have huge ambitions for it and we are constantly looking to grow the range of services we provide, as well as expanding our geographical reach," Oliver said.

Doorly will continue onboarding providers as it rolls out into more UK cities.