TaskRabbit has expanded from Boston to Metrowest — including Wellesley — to offer its service of connecting senders (people who need errands run) with runners (people who will run the errands for you, for a price).
In a nutshell, you sign up on the company’s website, list the task you want performed and how much you’re willing to pay for it, a “runner” will respond typically in about 30 minutes, then you pay for the task once it has been completed. The company screens its runners, who include among their ranks teachers and people who happen to own things like pickup trucks, and is always looking for more
The company has been operating in Boston since 2008 and this month expanded to Metrowest, including anywhere within a 25-mile radius of Newton according to the very zippy “Peter Rabbit” answering questions on the pop-up chat box on the company website.
The company used to be called RunMyErrand but changed its name in April to reflect broader ambitions that include more than running run-of-the-mill errands such as a grocery pickup (you could, for example, send chicken soup to a sick friend across town). Examples of tasks that have already been run in Wellesley include delivering flowers to a funeral home and picking up a cake in Wellesley to bring to the Back Bay.
The company has also partnered with businesses, such as a dog food bakery in the South End that does lots of deliveries. Nothing yet with any Wellesley businesses, but maybe soon, a spokeswoman says.
As for any Wellesley connections, company CMO Anne Moellering is based in San Francisco but stays with family in Wellesley when out here.
As for the numbers, TaskRabbit started in 2008 and has expanded its roster of runners to more than 250. The company is coy about how many people it has served. It raised $1 million in venture funding last fall.
