Rated People, an online marketplace which helps to connect homeowners with tradespeople, has received a new cash injection.
Downing Ventures and Channel 4 invested £5.2m into the business, which will use the money to continue developing its proprietary technology and boost brand awareness.
Founded in 2005, Rated People claims homeowners post 3,000 jobs a day on its website or mobile app. Additionally, the company says revenues grew to £14m this year.
Celia Francis, CEO of Rated People, commented: “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,” the CEO added.
Alex Mahon, CEO of Channel 4, explained why he backed the company: “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 went on to note: “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.”