B&Q beware — French DIY marketplace ManoMano raises €60 million and sets sights on UK

Philippe de Chanville and Christian Raisson, cofounders of ManoMano

An online DIY marketplace has raised €60 million (£54.6 million) to fuel expansion across Europe, with Britain one of the top markets in its sights.

Paris-headquartered ManoMano raised the "Series C" funding from growth equity investor General Atlantic, as well as existing investors Piton Capital, Partech Ventures, and Bpifrance.

Founded in 2013, ManoMano is an online DIY marketplace that connects people directly to home improvement and gardening merchants. The business has 1.9 million customers across Europe and has 1.2 million products listed on its platform. It sells everything from sheds to cleaning tools.

The company operates in six countries across Europe including the UK, where it launched 18 months ago. It has racked up sales of £9 million in Britain since launching here.

The latest funding injection will be spent on a marketing blitz across all markets, as well as increasing the product range, and hiring more business development staff in the UK and Germany.

Christian Raisson, cofounder of ManoMano, said in a statement: "In the UK, we will be focusing on a number of key issues, notably: implementing new logistics and delivery services for consumers and sellers, facilitating cross-border trading and European expansion for partners, as well as redesigning the website to allow for easier navigation, a simplified purchase funnel and more efficient pre-sales advice."

ManoMano's war chest and UK ambitions will likely worry B&Q, the iconic British DIY chain. Parent company Kingfisher's share price has tumbled over the last year amid a slowdown in sales. The retailer is currently part way through an ambitious restructuring plan aimed at combating the decline but has so far struggled to find success.

Chris Caulkin, an investor at General Atlantic, said ManoMano has an opportunity to capitalise on the relatively low take up of online sales in DIY and gardening.

He said in a statement: "We believe the DIY and gardening category today has low online penetration despite the advantages over traditional retail, including a wider product offering and the ability to search and filter products and drill into technical information."

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