Australian Service Directory Site Oneflare Raises $876,000 For International Expansion

Oneflare, a local services marketplace based in Sydney, Australia, has raised an additional $1 million AUD (about $876,000), bringing its total funding so far to $1.5 million AUD (about $1.3 million). Investors include Les Szekely of Equity Venture Partners, Garry Visontay, of the Sydney Seed Fund and Dr. Jeffrey Tobias of The Strategy Group. The startup says it will use the capital on hiring, sales and marketing, and international expansion.

The site allows users to get multiple quotes from pre-vetted service providers, including cleaners, electricians, plumbers, painters, accountants and gardeners. Oneflare was founded in 2011 by Marcus Lim and Adam Dong and currently has 50,000 registered business in more than 200 categories, as well as 500,000 visitors per month. In Australia, Lim says that Oneflare’s market opportunity could be about $18 billion if it replaces the Yellow Pages and directories as customers’ preferred way to find services.

In addition to the Yellow Pages, Oneflare’s competitors also include directory sites TrueLocal and Gumtree. Oneflare differentiates, Lim says, by offering multiple quotes and checking for Australian Business Numbers (ABN), licenses, insurance and qualifications. Its customer reviews are also linked to completed transactions and are separate from customer testimonials.

In addition, Oneflare, which is available online and through mobile apps, also provides a guarantee of up to AUD$500 for home damages by listed businesses, as well as an on-time guarantee so businesses can back themselves with a AUD$50 bond if they don’t arrive on time.

The site currently claims 500,000 unique visitors per month and has had over AUD$55 million of jobs requested through the site so far. It also says it has tripled its revenue over the last year, and seen a 300 percent increase in total traffic over the past 12 months.