Online home services marketplace Oneflare has announced the acquisition
of Renovate Forum, Australia’s largest online renovation community.
A go-to community for renovators seeking advice and expert opinion for
home improvement jobs, Renovate Forum is home to over 40,000 members, attracts over
half a million visits every month, and is a free forum where questions, ideas
and inspirations are exchanged and discussed.
Renovate Forum complements the activities of Oneflare, which is a competitive
marketplace of over 45,000 certified tradespeople; the interaction between the
two member groups will go a long way in improving the offering of both
platforms.
Marcus Lim, Founder and CEO of Oneflare observed that the acquisition of
Renovate Forum marked an exciting new direction for the start-up. The
complementary businesses will enrich the experience of users of both sites.
He explains that Oneflare’s premise is to connect customers with home
services businesses while Renovate Forum takes this model one step further by
allowing and encouraging their customers to interact with each other. The
acquisition adds the social community aspect to Oneflare’s site.
Lim adds that Oneflare’s tradespeople will also have free access to
Renovate Forum and can easily join any conversation to offer their professional
opinion and advice.
Oneflare offers a platform for customers to look for service providers
by posting a job request for free and opening it up for bidding by professionals.
Till date, about $50 million worth of jobs have been requested on Oneflare; the
website also hosts tens of thousands of registered service providers across accounting,
building, catering, computers, legal services, pest and weed control and
renovations among many others.