Company Name: Flippa
Announcement Date: 22/09/2021
Announcement Category: Investment
Announcement Content:
As digital entrepreneurship explodes globally, Melbourne-based Flippa is democratising the exit for millions of online business owners including Amazon sellers, Shopify store owners, bloggers, SaaS entrepreneurs, app developers - and more
Sydney, September 21, 2021 â Melbourne-based Flippa, the #1 global online marketplace to buy and sell online businesses and digital assets, today announced an AU$15M Series A raise led by Sydney-based venture capital firm OneVentures. As part of broader trends related to the pandemicâs rise in digital entrepreneurship and investorsâ interest in digital investments, more online business owners are looking for a reliable, frictionless way to sell their businesses. Digital assets like mobile apps, eCommerce stores, blogs, Saas companies and other online businesses are fast becoming a sought-after asset category for investors.
Digital businesses are now the lifeblood of the small business economy, with online platforms such as Amazon, WordPress, and Shopify enabling entrepreneurs and creators to start, grow and scale their projects into sustainable companies. Over the last 10 years, the emergence and dominance of the platform economy has driven mass small business inception - Amazon alone has over six million sellers, growing at a rate of almost two thousand new sellers every day. This has spawned a new asset class from which venture-backed aggregators such as Thrasio, Heyday and Perch, as well as individual buyers, are enabling five to eight figure exits.
âItâs not often you get an opportunity to invest in an Australian company that has grown to be the number one company in such a fast growing area. â said Nigel Dews, Operating Partner at OneVentures. âWe are thrilled to partner with the Flippa team, as they democratize the exit for millions of small business owners and entrepreneurs. Businesses are now âdigital-firstâ and new business creation levels are at all-time highs. In 2020, there were roughly 4.5 million new business applications in the USA alone, which is 50% higher than the 2010-19 average. This wave of digital entrepreneurship is undeniably the new normal and Flippa is playing a critical role in connecting buyers and sellers globally and executing M&A transactions.â
Flippa On a Strong Growth Trajectory
Flippa was founded in Melbourne in 2009 by Mark Harbottle and Matt Mickiewicz, co-founders of Accel-backed 99designs. With 3 million registered users and an unmatched data set of digital business transactions, Flippa is now the worldâs largest community of buyers and sellers of online businesses. The company is poised for massive expansion, with overall transaction volume up around 100% YoY, 300,000 new registered users in the last 12 months, and 4,000 business valuations processed each month (for a combined asset value of $340M).âIn 2009, Flippa invented the space for buying and selling digital businesses and as a bootstrapped startup weâve achieved #1 status globally,â said Blake Hutchison, CEO of Flippa. âWeâve witnessed thousands of success stories, where business owners use Flippa to realise value in their extraordinary efforts. We are now growing into a market network to streamline transactions of all sizes and weâre excited to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs and investors.â
OneVentures led the capital raise through its 1V Growth Fund V. Along with existing Flippa investor Andrew Walsh (ex-CEO Hitwise, acquired by Experian) and Co-Founders / Investors Mark Harbottle and Matt Mickiewicz (Co-founders of Flippa, as well as 99designs), the Company also welcomes new investors, Gabby & Hezi Leibovich (Founders of Catch.com.au), Guy King and Bevan Clarke (Founders of RetailMeNot.com), and Tim OâNeill and Tim Fouhy (Founders of Reactive Media).
Flippa plans to use the proceeds of its Series A round to double its headcount to more than 100 employees, hiring globally including in Melbourne, San Francisco, Austin, and also remotely, across all departments including engineering, product, sales, marketing and more. The funds will also be used to expand Flippaâs platform product functionality, including scaling the Companyâs proprietary industry-leading business valuation tool - which is similar to a âZillow Zestimateâ for online businesses.
What Makes Flippa Unique
Flippaâs proprietary valuation product and matching algorithm accurately values businesses and matches them directly with qualified buyers. From business owners to serial entrepreneurs, customers can sell their company directly through the platform or with the assistance of a broker or M&A advisor. The product also offers due-diligence and acquisition finance powered by Yardline Capital (a Thrasio company) and a new service called Flippa Legal which is billed as legal-as-a-service. Flippaâs platform and network is providing for the first time an end-to-end platform for the selling process.
âSelling a business has traditionally been difficult, but it doesnât have to be that way,â said Mark Harbottle, Co-Founder of Flippa. âOur vision for Flippa has always been to create a trusted, frictionless platform where sellers can find the right buyer for their business at the right time, and consummate the transaction with all parties involved in a safe, efficient way. Weâre delighted to be teaming up with OneVentures via this Series A investment which will help us extend Flippaâs market-leading position and deliver on our original vision.â
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT WAS MADE BY THE TECHBOARD TEAM ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY. COMPANIES CAN CLAIM THEIR PROFILES ON TECHBOARD FOR FREE AND MAKE THEIR OWN ANNOUNCEMENTS.
Announcement URL: https://flippa.com/blog/flippa-announces-usd11m-series-a-capital-raise/
About Flippa:
Flippa is the #1 global online platform to buy and sell digital real estate, such as websites, eCommerce stores, apps, and online businesses. Flippa has more buyers than any other platform, with 600,000 monthly searches from investors seeking to acquire businesses, and connects business owners with a pathway to exit.
Go to Company Profile for: Flippa
Announcement Contact: [email protected]
