Rated People, the UK’s leading online marketplace connecting homeowners with tradespeople, announces new investment of £5.2m from Downing Ventures and Channel 4. The cash injection will be used to further enhance their market-leading technology platform, significantly grow sales, and boost brand awareness.
Since emerging in 2005, Rated People has seen over 7 million home improvement jobs posted on its platform by homeowners, with revenues growing to £14m in 2018. Homeowners post 3,000 jobs per day on Rated People’s website or mobile app, equating to over 1 million jobs flowing through the service each year and generating over £2.5bn of work for tradespeople. Rated People’s ground-breaking technology platform delivers a more efficient, more effective and personalised approach to the home improvement experience for both tradespeople and homeowners.
The company is changing the face of the industry, championing a move towards an online service that promises speed and support. Unlike traditional static directories, Rated People uses smart technologies to solve the age-old problem of making speedy local matches between homeowners and tradespeople who are skilled and available to take on their work. Matches can be made in as little as two minutes, thanks to the platform’s sophisticated algorithms and large base of over 50,000 tradespeople across the country.
Alex Mahon, CEO of Channel 4, commented: “At Channel 4, we like to work with innovative brands who have fantastic stories to share. We’re excited by the work Rated People is doing to transform the home improvement space and delighted to give them the medium to accelerate their future growth.”
James Lewis, Investment Director at Downing Ventures says: “Rated People have the technology expertise to give homeowners close to on-demand access to quality, local and, most importantly, available tradespeople who can provide competitive quotes to get their work completed. We believe that this is a compelling opportunity to back an impressive management team in a growing and digitally under-penetrated UK market.”
The investment from Downing Ventures and Channel 4 will allow Rated People to accelerate their growth and develop a number of strategic innovation projects. The company plans to offer enhanced customer support for homeowners and tradespeople whilst investing in experienced commercial hires and expanding their brand reach to a wider audience. As Rated People grows, the business is keen to further support the industry by building stronger relationships between all parties. Another core focus will be to close the knowledge gap, with future projects providing pricing transparency and fairness for home improvement work.
Celia Francis, CEO of Rated People, adds: “Rated People has experienced significant growth in recent years. The £2.5bn of work flowing through us is huge and we’re operating in an exciting industry where that translates to a 4.5% market share. We’re delighted to have the financial support from Downing Ventures and Channel 4, to further accelerate our growth and meet our goals of helping tradespeople run successful businesses and ensuring homeowners can quickly find and recognise quality tradespeople who are available to meet their home improvement needs.”
