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.