hipages

hipages Group is an Australian company that provides online service directories and an online lead generation platform; hipages, that connects Australians with trusted tradies to simplify home improvements.

hipages
Type of businessTechnology - Online tradie platform
Type of site
Public
Founded2004
HeadquartersSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Founder(s)David Vitek, co-Founder Robert Sharon-Zipser, co-Founder and CEO
ChairmanChris Knoblanche, Chairman & Independent Non-Executive Director
CEORoby Sharon-Zipser
IndustryOnline directory services
ProductsHome Improvement Pages, Call of Service
Net incomeImplied market capitalisation of $318.5 million
Employees200+[1]
URL
Current statusActive

History

hipages was founded in 2004 by David Vitek and Roby Sharon-Zipser. Prior to hipages, Vitek worked as an electrical engineer at IBM and Sharon-Zipser worked for PWC, then later started his own business advisory firm.[2]

The initial focus of Vitek and Sharon-Zipser's company stemmed from their recognised value in building a simple system for connecting local businesses with consumers. Their first business venture was Natural Therapy Pages; a directory for consumers and promotional tool for health practitioners. Vitek and Sharon-Zipser then realised the potential their services had in the home improvement space and started Home Improvement Pages, which became hipages in April 2011.[3][4]

In 2013 the hipages app was launched, with the aim of making it even easier and more convenient for homeowners to find and hire trusted tradies on the go, resulting in over one million visitors navigating to the hipages site at the time. In the same year, hipages entered into a partnership with IKEA to assist consumers in locating tradesmen to install their kitchen benches and cabinets.[5]

In 2014, Ashok Jacob-led Ellerston Capital acquired a 14% stake in the business, and in December, 2016 News Corp Australia acquired a 25% stake. These two significant investments increased hipages value to over $100 million with a growth rate of 30% year-on-year. Along the way, other investments came from KTM Capital, Right Click Capital and Kresta Capital. To date, hipages has raised over $50 million in funding.[2][6][7]

By the end of the 2017 financial year, hipages generated $2 billion worth of work for Australian tradespeople making the website the number one site for finding and hiring tradespeople in Australia.[8]

In 2019, hipages was appointed as the preferred online platform by the NSW Department of Education to connect NSW public schools with local tradies for repairs and maintenance work as part of the ‘Local Trades Scheme’.[9] In the same year, the hipages Group acquired the workflow management tool “Call of Service”, with the aim of simplifying administration and job management for trade businesses.[10]

In FY 2020 1.4 million jobs were posted to the platform, with an average of over 1.5 million monthly visitors to the website. Over 257,000 trade businesses were listed on the platform nationwide in 2020.[11] In FY 2020, hipages facilitated over 100,000 jobs posted by consumers each month, with an average of 1.5 million monthly visitors to the website. [12]

Directors and officers

David Vitek resigned as CEO on 30 April 2019, with Sharon-Zipser taking over the position on the same day.[13] The hipages Board of Directors includes:[14][15]

  • Chris Knoblanche, Chairman & Independent Non-Executive Director
  • Roby Sharon-Zipser, Chief Executive Officer & Director
  • Nicholas Gray, Non-Executive Director
  • Stacey Brown, Independent Non-Executive Director and Audit and Risk Committee Chair
  • Inese Kingsmill, Independent Non-Executive Director and Remuneration and Nominations Committee Chair

Financials

On 12 November 2020 hipages Group Holdings Limited (ASX:HPG) began trading on the Australia Securities Exchange following the successful completion of an initial public offering (IPO or Offer) that raised $100.4 million at $2.45 per share for an implied market capitalisation of $318.5 million. In its prospectus, hipages forecasted FY21 total revenue of $53.9m, 15% higher on the prior year, and recurring revenue growth of 20%.[16]

Major institutional shareholders, who control around 85% of the company, include News Corp, HSBC Nominees, NAB’s National Nominees, Australian Ethical’s Smaller Companies Trust, Ellerston Capital and Right Click Capital.[17]

Services

The hipages Group owns and operates two brands - hipages and Call of Service.

hipages

The name hipages stems from a portmanteau of Home Improvement Pages. hipages is the online platform that connects Australians with trusted tradies to simplify home improvement, helping tradies grow their business.

The Australian Residential Trade industry currently has 1.1m tradies and 257,000 trade businesses working to service the 9.9 million households in Australia, equating to $83 billion spent on tradies each year.[18]

hipages is the number one service provider in the Australian home improvement market, based on the company's growth, value, the number of tradespeople listed on the directory, and the number of homeowners actively using the platform. .[19][20] As at November 2020, over 3 million Australians have used hipages to find a tradie.[21]

Call of Service

Call of Service is a job management platform that improves tradies’ productivity at work by streamlining and managing workflow, taking away the stress of admin. This solution provides tradies with a system of record and has multiple features (e.g. invoicing, scheduling, job management) to help them better manage their business and be on top of their workflow.[22]

References
  1. Ward, Miranda (7 December 2015). "News Corp acquires 25 per cent stake in tradespeople classifieds website hipages". Mumbrella. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  2. Huang, Elaine (14 May 2014). "Decade-old home improvement portal hipages secures US$5.6M in funding". e27. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  3. Bindi, Tasnuva (7 May 2014). "hipages still dominates the market as younger startups attempt to overhaul". Startup Daily. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  4. Papadakis, Marianna (18 April 2013). "CEO Q&A: David Vitek, co-founder and co-CEO, hipages Group". BRW. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  5. Starr, Michelle (20 October 2013). "Ikea helps you find kitchen installation help". Cnet. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  6. Collins, Ben (7 May 2014). "Institutional Investors Have Poured Millions Into Australian Online Directory Hipages". Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  7. Francis, Hannah (9 May 2014). "HiPages eyes stronger IKEA synergy". Business Spectator AU. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  8. "Fundies courted for tradie ads company HiPages". Australian Financial Review. 23 September 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  9. "Local Trades Scheme". @NSWDepartmentofEducation. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  10. "Hipages becomes latest Aussie startup to IPO on the ASX". SmartCompany. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  11. "Tradie directory Hipages made its ASX debut today: here's who owns the biggest stakes". www.startupdaily.net. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  12. "Tradie puns run rampant in hipages' latest digitally-led campaign via VCCP Sydney". Campaign Brief. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  13. "Tradie directory Hipages made its ASX debut today: here's who owns the biggest stakes". startupdaily. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  14. "Tradies get the richies; bigwigs in Hipages float". Australian Financial Review. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  15. "News Corp's 'unhandy' Nicholas Gray joins tradie platform hipages - AdNews". www.adnews.com.au. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  16. "Hipages becomes latest Aussie startup to IPO on the ASX". SmartCompany. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  17. "Tradie directory Hipages made its ASX debut today: here's who owns the biggest stakes". www.startupdaily.net. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  18. "Goldman Sachs values Hipages at up to $370m". Australian Financial Review. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  19. Cameron, Nadia (4 June 2014). "hipages recruits new CMO and adds chief customer role". CMO. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  20. Rose, Sally (11 June 2014). "Hipages plans big marketing push with $6m boost". BRW. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  21. "Hipages becomes latest Aussie startup to IPO on the ASX". SmartCompany. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  22. "Hipages becomes latest Aussie startup to IPO on the ASX". SmartCompany. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.

Further reading
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