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Hometalk raises $15M to grow its DIY community

Hometalk, a#nbsp;DIY community site with just under 10 million monthly users and over 21 million monthly visits, today announced that it#nbsp;has raised a $#nbsp;15M growth round led by NFX, with participation from WeWork founder and CEO Adam Neumann and Altair Capital.

If#nbsp;you’re not familiar with Hometalk, you can think of#nbsp;the site as#nbsp;kind of#nbsp;DIY-centric Houzz, with a#nbsp;focus on#nbsp;visuals and step-by-step guides for doing projects inside your home. Those user-written guides cover everything from fixing clogged sink drains to repairing drywall, as#nbsp;well as#nbsp;more complex home improvement projects, and can feature text, images and video.

It’s very much a#nbsp;community-driven site and its 17 million registered users have now created over 140,000 tutorials. In#nbsp;total, these have been viewed over 2.5 billion times in#nbsp;the last year, the company says.

Until now, the site’s revenue mostly came from advertising. Going forward, though, the company plans to#nbsp;expand its offerings and introduce new revenue streams. Unsurprisingly, that’s what a#nbsp;lot of#nbsp;the new funding will go#nbsp;towards, too. Those new revenue streams include a#nbsp;marketplace, subscription service and branded content#nbsp;— all of#nbsp;which are logical additions for a#nbsp;site that already focuses on#nbsp;helping people improve their homes and who will likely need the right tools to#nbsp;do#nbsp;so.

"We always believed there is#nbsp;a#nbsp;massive, unmet need in#nbsp;the market for people to#nbsp;create the home they love by#nbsp;unlocking their creativity and giving them tools to#nbsp;empower this," Hometalk founder and CEO Yaron Ben Shaul said. "The growth we#nbsp;have experienced demonstrates not only the product-market fit for Hometalk, but also the large opportunity we#nbsp;have ahead. We#nbsp;are most proud to#nbsp;have such an#nbsp;active, engaged community that trusts and relies on#nbsp;Hometalk as#nbsp;its go-

to#nbsp;place for creativity."

The company was founded in#nbsp;2011 and currently has 60 employees in#nbsp;offices in#nbsp;New York City and Jerusalem.

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2019-04-03 21:22 News