Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Home remodeling and design platform Houzz Inc. is acquiring a startup called IvyMark, which offers business management tool and community for interior designers and other home design companies. IvyMark’s platform enables interior designers to run their entire business more efficiently, from sourcing products, creating estimates, and sending invoices, to managing vendor purchases and more.
The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but TechCrunch reports that Houzz is paying between $30 million and $40 million for the startup.
More than 1.5 million active home renovation and design professionals in over 65 categories use Houzz to showcase their work, build their brands and reach new clients. The addition of IvyMark’s platform will enable Houzz to also provide home professionals with tools that will help them run their businesses more efficiently, effectively and profitably. The idea is to expand its touchpoints with interior designers and their related firms, to provide more services for them in addition to providing them with inbound business. Houzz already has some 200,000 designers using its platform globally, so this makes sense as it looks to add more paid services around its freemium model. Notably, IvyMark has no free usage tier.
“IvyMark has built an incredible platform and team that align with our mission of providing the best experience for home renovation and design, by helping design professionals manage their business,” said Alon Cohen, Houzz co-founder and president. “We are excited to bring the power of IvyMark’s software and community to more professionals.”
Cofounders Alexandra Schinasi and Lee Rotenberg launched IvyMark in July 2016 with the mission to modernize the way interior design firms run their business. IvyMark quickly gained traction within the interior design community, signing more than 2,400 design firms in just over a year.
“We’re delighted to join forces with Houzz, a natural fit for IvyMark when it comes to innovation, culture, and user base,” said Lee Rotenberg, IvyMark cofounder.
“Houzz will allow us to continue on our mission of modernizing the way interior designers do business, while introducing Ivy to a massive audience and opening the door to new opportunities,” added IvyMark cofounder Alexandra Schinasi.
