An Australian startup that has set up its North American headquarters in Austin raised millions in new funding to help grow its team.
Flippa.com Pty Ltd. announced Sept. 20 that it secured $11 million in series A funding led by Sydney-based OneVentures.
Other investors included former Hitwise CEO Andrew Walsh, Flippa co-founders Mark Harbottle and Matt Mickiewicz, Catch.com.au co-founders Gabby and Hezi Leibovich, Guy King and Bevan Clarke, co-founders of Austin-based RetailMeNot.com, and Reactive Media co-founders Tim O’Neill and Tim Fouhy.
It's the first venture round the startup has reported since it was founded in Melbourne, Australia in 2009.
Flippa is a marketplace that helps online businesses get matched with potential buyers who would acquire and, perhaps, operate the business. That includes everything from e-commerce websites to blogs to apps. The startup's software uses an algorithm to provide valuations and match businesses with the buyers who are most likely to be interested in acquiring a specific website or startup business. It also matches buyers and sellers up with brokers and advisers for their deals, as well as acquisition finance through Yardlines Capital.
Flippa is part of an emerging group of businesses focused on acquiring and operating smaller online businesses. That includes companies such as Austin- and New York-based Elevate Brands, which acquires businesses and brands that sell their wares on Amazon.com. Earlier this summer, it secured $250 million in new capital, raising its total raised to $317 million. Meanwhile, on the software side, Austin's ESW Capital LLC has made a name for itself for acquiring and operating more than 100 small- to mid-sized software companies.
There seems to be a strong appetite by founders for early exits, as well as by buyers who see opportunities to improve or add on to existing business plans and client bases.
Flippa says it has seen major growth in recent years, including 100% year-over-year growth in transaction volume and 300,000 new users in the past year. The company says it has a total of 3 million registered users and processes about 4,000 business valuations a month.
“We’ve witnessed thousands of success stories, where business owners use Flippa to realize value in their extraordinary efforts," Flippa CEO Blake Hutchison said in a statement. "We are now growing into a market network to streamline transactions of all sizes and we’re excited to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs and investors.”
The company, which has its local offices in East Austin, announced it will double its overall headcount to more than 100 employees. In addition to Austin, it's hiring in Melbourne, San Francisco and remotely. It currently has two jobs posted in Austin for sales and account management. The company couldn't be reached Monday morning for additional insight on its Austin operations.
In a blog post, Hutchison said the company plans to develop new ways to buy and sell as it adds new data insights to its platform. It plans to branch out from being a marketplace for common e-commerce, SaaS and apps to include trading of any type of digital asset of any size.
