Australian local services marketplace, Oneflare recently completed a AU$3 million capital raising and signalled its intention to IPO.
With revenue for FY15 up by a whopping 300 per cent on last year, Oneflare continues to cement its position in the local services niche, now with 70,000 registered businesses and over 1.3 million unique visitors per month.
This new round of funding was led by Microequities Asset Management, a microcap fund manager with a highly successful track record in tech investments.
The round was significantly oversubscribed, with all existing investors also participating.
What does this funding mean for Oneflare?
“We invested in Oneflare because it’s contesting a huge market vertical,” said Carlos Gil, Chief Investment Officer of Microequities Asset Management.
“The local services vertical will ultimately be won by a company with an obsessive focus on customer experience underpinned by great tech,” he went on to explain. “Oneflare possesses these two crucial elements.”
Oneflare co-founder and CEO, Adam Dong (pictured) said this funding is all about accelerating their growth. The funds will be used to further expand the Oneflare team, with a focus on tech, sales and customer support.
“In the service industry, reputation is everything,” he highlighted. “Trust and credibility are at the core of our promise to our customers. That’s why we’re the only provider to offer a guarantee on all services booked through verified businesses on our platform.”
How has Oneflare been doing lately?
Oneflare is an online marketplace where consumers can post a job free of charge and quickly receive relevant and competitive quotes from reputable local businesses.
It now has over 70,000 registered businesses Australia-wide spanning over 200 business categories, and some are making over $100,000 per job.
Following the acquisition of Renovate Forum, Australia’s biggest home renovation advice forum and WOMO, the country’s largest customer reviews website, Oneflare now provides access to half a million consumer reviews and receives more than 1.3 million visits each month. They also made it to our 2015 SMART 100 list.
Launched in early 2012, the start-up currently has a team of 40 based in Sydney.
“We expect FY16 to be a transformative year for Oneflare,” Adam revealed. “As we continue to entrench our market position and with revenue expected to triple this year, we are actively planning for an IPO. We’re super excited about the year ahead.”
