French DIY and gardening startup ManoMano sets its sights on UK
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ManoMano, Europe’s booming online marketplace for DIY and gardening equipment, is looking to take on the likes of B&Q, Homebase and other UK market leaders following a 13m EUR (£10.4m) investment.
Founded in France in 2012, ManoMano is the online market for DIY and gardening goods that connects the buyer directly with the seller.
The startup has over 1.8m unique visitors a month and 400k customers and has benefitted from a rapidly growing DIY market in its own country and on the continent. The French market currently sits at 30bn EUR and the European market has hit 280bn EUR.
This round of 13m EUR was raised by four European funds: Partech Ventures, Piton Capital, CM-CIC Capital Privé and Bpifrance.
ManoMano will invest 2m EUR in its UK business, which includes ManoMano.co.uk (launched in January this year) and team of 10 people.
ManoMano believes the UK market is ripe for disruption, and aims to attract customers with a wider range of choice, competitive prices and various community product features.
The only DIY and gardening pureplayer in the UK, ManoMano is looking to convince both wholesalers and retailers to join the country’s biggest DIY and gardening catalogue.
While UK sellers offer a maximum of 35k products and services online, ManoMano offers 150k products, from spades and stainless steel barbecues to the most specific, technical and esoteric pieces of DIY and gardening equipment even including full scale wind turbines.
ManoMano co-founder Philippe de Chanville said: "We’re delighted with the 13m EUR raised, which means that we can really focus on the 40bn EUR market in the UK. The British are world-renowned gardeners and DIYers, and so we think they’ll love ManoMano, which we like to believe is the online temple for garden and home equipment."
Co-founder Christian Raisson added: "We have a bigger range and lower prices than incumbent retailers. ManoMano also serves as an online community with forums, advice papers and messaging tools, so if you’re a professional, a hobbyist or a first timer you can find anything you want."
This new round of funding follows 600k EUR raised in August 2012, and 2m EUR raised in September 2014.
The startup is also looking to grow its existing operations in Spain and Italy.
Pictured: Manomano founder Philippe de Chanville and Christian Raisson.
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