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ManoMano, raises 355M$ in fundraising and confirms the UK as the fastest growing market

Published: 6 July 2021 - James Mead

ManoMano, the leading European marketplace specialising in online DIY, home improvement and gardening, today announces the successful completion of its $355 million Series F fundraising and that it has reached $2.6 billion in valuation.  ManoMano has also confirmed that the UK, its growth engine, has become the fastest growing market for the new European unicorn.

 

The round was led by new investor, Dragoneer Investment Group, with broad participation from existing investors Temasek, General Atlantic, Eurazeo, Bpifrance, through its Large Venture funds, Aglaé Ventures, Kismet Holdings, and Armat Group.

ManoMano will leverage the funds to continue its European expansion, particularly in the United Kingdom and Germany, the business’ largest potential markets in Europe. Funds will also be used to replicate the success of its B2B offering in Spain and Italy; to pursue its tradition of customer and seller-centric tech innovations and to develop its European logistics network ManoFulfillment. To achieve its ambitions, ManoMano plans to more than double the size of its current workforce by recruiting a further 1,000 people by the end of 2022.

With $725 million raised 8 years after its creation by Philippe de Chanville and Christian Raisson, ManoMano is now valued at $2.6 billion and has reached unicorn status.

"With this new round of funding, we wish to confirm our position as the undisputed European leader in our online vertical. Our goal is to become the first destination for all DIY, gardening and home improvement projects by offering a first-class experience and advice to our European customers,” say Philippe de Chanville and Christian Raisson, co-founders and co-CEO of ManoMano. “By giving access to a highly qualified DIY audience and a full range of category-specific services, we also aim to be the preferred partner for our European sellers who aim to grow their online business in our vertical.

“The pandemic triggered an international craze in the DIY industry, and we believe the trend is here to stay. Consumers across the globe are investing more-and-more in their homes and are now turning to online channels for selection, price, and – importantly – advice. ManoMano leads the industry on all three of these dimensions, and no company in Europe is better equipped to help DIYers realize their visions,” said Eric Jones, Partner at Dragoneer Investment Group. “We have been extremely impressed with the ManoMano management team and look forward to supporting their growth as they cement leading positions in their existing markets and continue to expand in Europe.”

European hypergrowth with UK as the driving force leading fastest growth

Tackling a €400B European market with online penetration only at 11%, ManoMano has reimagined industry standards thanks to a unique positioning as a vertical digital brand. With its unmatched catalogue of 10 million products and its 3,600 cherry-picked partner sellers, ManoMano provides a best-in-class experience and services for its B2C and B2B customer base as well as its sellers in its European markets.

ManoMano has developed its own technology and one-of-a-kind customer and seller-centric innovations such as high-quality bespoke advice through its Manodvisors, a community of experts available online to support customers on their projects and purchase decisions (2.3M conversations in 2020). Other developments include ManoFulfillment, its category-specific logistics service opened in France, Spain and Italy; and dedicated services to empower its sellers’ businesses.

2020 has seen major and sustained global digital growth, with +31% e-commerce growth in Western Europe*. In this period, ManoMano has demonstrated its leadership by achieving growth of +100%, as well as impressive results: €1.2 billion in sales and 140% growth for its B2B offering, ManoManoPro. With over 50 million unique visitors per month across its platforms, the company serves over 7 million customers throughout Europe. In addition, in 2020, ManoMano consolidated its European presence and generated 40% of its sales in other European markets (Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain and Italy).

With the fastest growth of all the markets since the beginning of 2021, the UK is ManoMano’s growth engine having achieved a growth of 240% in 2020 - the unicorn is truly reinforcing its footprint outside of its native France. With 75% of the marketplace’s sellers being British, local businesses are able to expand and reach new audiences. To reinforce its presence and success in the UK, ManoMano accepted its first award, the Online Retailer Awards, in May, which was closely followed by its second award, the Retail Systems Award, for E-Commerce Marketplace of the Year in June.

“With a potential market of €50 billion and the highest digital penetration in Europe, the UK is ManoMano’s growth engine for the future. As it has become our fastest growing country in 2021, we look forward to further expansions and opportunities. This new funding round will allow us to accelerate our development, particularly by strengthening our media investments and footprint in the UK to become the preferred partner for our customers and UK sellers,” say Philippe de Chanville and Christian Raisson.

European expansion and tech innovation at the heart of ManoMano’s growth strategy

With this new round of funding, ManoMano intends to further accelerate its priority projects:

  • Reinforce its footprint outside of France, particularly in the UK and Germany, the two largest DIY markets in Europe. In 2021, these countries have already become ManoMano’s second biggest markets in terms of business, and represent an important growth reservoir for the company (respectively €50Bn and €82Bn market size opportunity, with the fastest European digital-adoption pace).
  • Invest in its tech and data to further improve its service offering for customers, seller partners and construction professionals. ManoMano offers its seller partners access to European markets by developing a European logistics network, customer service support, and empowering them with advertising, sponsored products, and customer insights. ManoMano continues to invest in services building an end-to-end experience from inspiration to implementation through customer advice, in order to become the reference partner for their DIY and home improvement projects.
  • Scaling its B2B offering, ManoManoPro, to Spain and Italy where it was launched at the end of 2020, with the ambition to reach the same success as in France where 1 in 5 small professionals are already registered. The company aims to become the preferred partners for small construction professionals.
  • Accelerate its media investments in Europe to build a strong and differentiated Home Improvement brand across all its countries, to the same level as France where 2 out of 3 French people know of ManoMano.
  • Recruit 1,000 new talents by the end of 2022, more than doubling its current workforce across Europe.

ManoMano’s fast-paced growth is supported by a talented team of 800 people including 150 new recruits who were onboarded over the last 6 months, working from offices in Paris, Bordeaux and Barcelona.

“We strongly believe that to build a tech champion & reimagine our vertical, we must put our teams at the centre of our development. At ManoMano, we allow each Mana and Mano to grow professionally within a strong and ambitious human vision supported by our core values: boldness, ingenuity, and care. Because our major technological and business challenges require us to rely on the best talents, we are going to be recruiting 1,000 new European talents at a very fast-pace in the next 18 months” conclude Philippe de Chanville and Christian Raisson, co-founders and co-CEO of ManoMano.

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