Fixya, the site that gives do-it-yourselfers tips for fixing broken stuff, is launching a new service aimed at connecting local repair shops and service providers with people in need of assistance.
“We created this program as more of a funnel. So here’s a way for a small business to generate traffic for themselves and get traction in their local areas,” says Fixya chief executive Yaniv Bensadon.
It’s the latest step in Fixya’s march toward being more than just about expert answers to queries about broken devices. In 2013 the company unveiled FixBoard, which allows businesses to track how many problems Fixya users have reported with particular devices, what the problems are, and how those complaints compare with complaints lodged against competitors’ products.
And Fixya is experimenting with other potential products. In the future, local professionals could pay to get featured on the site for their expertise and potentially have an expanded array of services available to offer to Fixya’s visitors.
The company is also experimenting with providing branded experiences for site visitors. “If 800,000 HP customers are coming to the site, we’ll allow HP to brand that experience and potentially sell their own products and services,” says Bensadon.
Unlike other question and answer sites like Quora, Fixya has been relatively capital light raising only $8 million in venture financing to Quora’s over $100 million. And the company has been profitable since 2009, according to Bensadon.
Now, as it rolls out new revenue-generating initiatives the company could return to market to raise additional capital, Bensadon says. In fact, the company may look to raise a round “well North of $50 million” later this year, he says.
“There are 30 million users who land on the Fixya site and we know exactly what’s not working for them,” Bensadon says. That’s powerful information for any manufacturer purely for that asset itself.
“Quora announced they raised at a $900 million valuation, without having that highly monetizable audience,” Bensadon says. “There’s multiple ways that Fixya could be monetized and a nice business can grow out of that. Definitely something that can justify the type of funding we’ll be open to.”
Photo via Flickr user Daniel Hennemand