Cleaning Up: Rozie’s Founders Turn a Housekeeping Headache Into a Growing Startup

by / ⠀Startup Advice / May 15, 2025
Rozie
Rozie is on a mission to modernize the outdated house cleaning industry, offering users a safer and smarter way to book trusted cleaners. Along the way, the company is setting a new standard for convenience in home services and customer satisfaction. Motivated by a personal pain point, Rozie was launched amid a global shift in in-home cleaning services and cleaning companies. The founding team worked diligently for two years to develop Malta’s first on-demand cleaning app, but they encountered challenges. The team overcame early skepticism surrounding cleaning companies in Malta, streamlined a traditionally clunky business model, and empowered cleaners and clients, laying the groundwork for a startup of cleaning services in Malta that now scales 30% monthly.   Rozie

Malta: Inspiration for Rozie

In 2022, Dan Dulbinsky struggled to hire a reliable cleaner for his apartment in Valletta, Malta. He fruitlessly called numerous cleaning agencies, which led nowhere, and online listings were sketchy at best. Rather than accept this as an unavoidable hassle, Dulbinsky saw this as an opportunity. He explains, “Previously, finding reliable cleaners required time-consuming searches through websites or social media, often with no guarantee of quality or reliability.” The potential client decided to modernize the outdated business of searching for cleaners. He partnered with two Latvians, Alex Tul and Edgars Veigurs, to build an app that makes booking cleaning services as easy as ordering an Uber. The forward-thinking idea led to the development of Rozie, launched in 2024 as the first cleaning app in Malta.  

From Bootstrapping to Breakthrough

Rozie‘s humble beginnings were marked by limited capital and a lack of significant investors to help launch the innovative app. So, the three founders drew on their savings accounts and dedicated two years to the development process, bringing Rozie to life. “It was a great and persistent effort,” Dulbinsky recalls. “We spent countless hours refining the platform, interviewing cleaners, and testing the service in real homes.” From the beginning, the three entrepreneurs faced skepticism from many angles. Local cleaning companies did not believe clients would trust an app with their house keys or security codes. Early users were hesitant about allowing strangers from an online application into their homes, while prospective investors questioned the app’s accuracy in determining home locations. Malta is a small island nation, and investors questioned whether it was a big enough market to host the startup.
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Resilience

Rozie and its developers chose to face the business obstacles head-on, steeling their resolve. The founders doubled down on key aspects of quality and trust, implementing a rigorous vetting process to ensure the highest standards. The method includes a background check and practical cleaning tests before users can join the app. This unique curation sets Rozie apart from other cleaning services and instills trust among its clients. Initiating this process from the beginning built trust with initial clients and ensured them that the app was safe and reliable.

People First Philosophy

From the outset, Dulbinsky’s vision for Rozie was two-sided. He aimed to improve the customer experience and uplift the app’s cleaners. For its users, Rozie guaranteed simplicity by enabling a process that only required a few taps on a phone to book a cleaning appointment with a vetted cleaner. The second part of the process involved offering upfront pricing with no cash down payment required, thereby initiating trust with its clients. The vetted cleaners also benefit from the program. The platform opened access to more potential clients and steady income. Unlike traditional cleaning agencies that often retain the bulk of the payment, Rozie stands out with a generous revenue-sharing business model, where cleaners keep up to 80% of each service’s earnings. Dulbinsky says, “What’s important is that we help cleaners earn legal income and pay taxes, which contributes to the economy.

Business Model

Dulbinsky’s business model highlights the importance of running a legitimate cleaning service that benefits all parties involved. The platform underscores Rozie’s efforts to bring gig workers into the entrepreneurial side of the cleaning business. Cleaners register their services as businesses and understand the tax structures applicable to their services. This ensures the cleaner, client, and platform are above board and legitimate, highlighting the app’s philosophy of providing the best service and trust. This business philosophy became critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, which reshaped attitudes toward home services. Moving past the pandemic, the app transitioned from hiring a cleaner as an occasional luxury to a regular necessity as households became more hygiene-conscious. Rozie was developed at a premium time when consumers were acclimated to handling everyday tasks via apps. These consumers were eager to embrace a digital solution for home cleaning and other services. This timing was also beneficial because consumers were more comfortable with allowing people into their homes through an online platform.
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Cleaning Up an Antiquated Service Stuck in the Past

One of the exciting aspects of Rozie is that it is transforming an antiquated business and moving it into the future. The old system is a multi-billion-dollar cleaning industry that is in dire need of revamping. Rozie’s on-demand app reimagines how people hire house cleaners and how entrepreneurial house cleaners find reliable work. The platform enables users to exchange phone numbers and cash payments for instant bookings, cashless checkout, and transparent reviews. The progressive idea is a fantastic example of how post-pandemic consumer expectations and the services economy merge to disrupt home services, one satisfied client at a time.

The New Way to Hire a House Cleaner

In the past, hiring a house cleaner meant thumbing through the Yellow Pages or finding phone numbers on a corkboard at the laundromat. The industry became stuck in a mode of advertising that included cold calling, jotting down information, and hoping to secure a quality cleaning. Rozie’s app streamlines this process and ensures security through its thorough vetting process. Rozie’s developers witnessed a surge in engagement as users responded to friendly features, such as real-time updates and the ability to read reviews before booking a cleaner. One Airbnb host in Malta even noted that “they received three offers within minutes” and “recommends this app 100%” after booking a cleaning service.

Looking Ahead

Rozie started as a bootstrapped idea but has blossomed into a thriving business with over 10,000 users and more than 150 active service providers, scaling rapidly. Rozie’s user base is growing by approximately 30% every month, primarily fueled by word-of-mouth praise and repeat bookings, a sign of success for any business. Rozie’s team has expanded to 11 employees and a network of customer-service specialists who ensure both clients and cleaners are supported from the beginning to the end of the process. 

Global Vision

Rozie has global ambition, anchored by its success as a Maltese startup app. With Malta as a proving ground, Dulbinsky and the co-founders are planning launches in larger European markets and considering entry into the expansive US home services market, valued at over $40 billion. The company’s vision is to create a universal and scalable platform, similar to Uber or Airbnb, for the home services industry. Although it is a spirited goal, Rozie’s investors have remarked that the platform is a “proven product with rapid growth, a loyal user base, and a vision tailored to modern urban life,” according to a company release.
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Client-Centric Success

For Dulbinsky, success is not measured in dollars and cents but in the success stories of people’s lives made easier by his service. He recalls a working mother who told him that Rozie was a game changer for her busy family, finally enabling quality cleaning without the usual hassle of securing a service. There are also anecdotes from the cleaner’s side underscoring the ease and importance of the Rozie app. One cleaner used Rozie to build a steady client base and turn their side job into a full-time business. The platform’s flexibility allows success for both clients and cleaners, a key factor in Rozie’s design. Dulbinsky notes, “We’re proud to have strengthened our position in the market, and [we’re] even more proud of the community we’ve built, which values convenience, trust, and opportunity in equal measure.” Rozie’s rise from a frustrated potential client to a thriving platform for contractors and customers proves that persevering through early challenges and staying true to one’s vision is a key component of a successful business model. Overcoming challenges has led Dulbinsky and his team to revamp an ineffective and outdated system, fostering a community of users and cleaners. As Rozie prepares for its next chapter, Dulbinsky’s initial vision remains central to the company: to make life a little less complicated for individuals seeking safe and secure home cleaning and contractors seeking a reliable opportunity. Dulbinsky says, “We’re excited to offer a unique, convenient, and safe service to residents and businesses,” which is propelling Rozie into the future while transforming an industry. Looking ahead, the team remains committed to expanding thoughtfully while staying true to the company’s core values: trust, empowerment, and innovation at the heart of every home they serve.

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About The Author

Educator. Writer. Editor. Proofreader. Lauren Carpenter's vast career and academic experiences have strengthened her conviction in the power of words. She has developed content for a globally recognized real estate corporation, as well as respected magazines like Virginia Living Magazine and Southern Review of Books.

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