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Their ambition: « become the Amazon for services ».
The three co-founders of the platform which allows independent professionals to connect with local customers, have just obtained their first €400 million funds raise.
Toni Paignant, Maël Leclair, and Lucas Lambertini created this startup in December 2012, and launched the website in November 2013. They have just convinced some business angels to support them, of whom, BlaBlaCar founders (Frédéric Mazzella, Francis Nappez and Damien Grulier), and those of Nomination (Louis Barbeau and Serge Papo). « This raise has been made possible thanks to AIR (Accor d’Investissement Rapide), launched by TheFamily in December 2013 », stated the startup.
2,5 to 3 euro charged for each connection established.
Its business model is based upon a €2.5 to 3 fee charged to the professionals each time they send a quote to the potential customers. StarOfService main competitors are Pagesjaunes (yellowpages), Leboncoin as well as specialized refurbishment sites, such as devispresto or 123devis.
The company – assisted by TheFamily – will use the funds raised to increase its number of staff, and develop its platform. The team is currently made of around twenty people. « We are planning to employ an extra 10 people to start with » says Lucas Lambertini. The three co-founders, TheFamily and the investors are now all shareholders.
By Adeline Raynal, FrenchWeb
