AddVenture, an international venture fund with Russian roots, has led a $4 million round of funding for ServiceMarket, a Dubai-based home services marketplace (previously known as ‘MoveSouq’).
Emaar Properties, a local real estate development company, also participated in the round in undisclosed proportions.
AddVenture led a previous $3 million round one year ago. Seed and angel rounds took place in 2013 and 2015 respectively, which brings the total amount invested in the company since inception to $8 million.
The funds will be used for marketing purposes and to develop customer service. “We’ll build out the process, tools, and systems that can make sure every single one of our customers have a stellar experience,” said Bana Shomali, founder and CEO in an exchange with Entrepreneur.com.
The company will also continue developing its technology, and enlarge its team.
AddVenture launched in 2008, at the very early days of the Russian venture industry. Now the fund focuses on the home and local services market, in which it sees “huge opportunities.”
“Basically, we differentiate two business models: horizontal market-places connecting homeowners with service professionals for a wide variety of non-recurring and / or complex projects, and specific vertical transactional platforms addressing customer needs that can be standardized or have a recurring nature, i.e. home cleaning or laundry services,” the fund’s Managing Partner Pavel Terentiev told East-East Digital News earlier this year.
“We see two important macro shifts in these segments: changing labor relations and new consumer behavior. These shifts affect virtually all industries simultaneously across the globe.”
