Irish founded Start-up Hometree raises €7.2 Million funding

Online boiler installation company Hometree, a London based start-up which is co-founded by Dubliner Simon Phelan, has raised €7.2 million which is equivalent to $8.5 Million in latest round of funding. Making it to almost €12.7 million.

Hometree which was founded in 2016 by Dublin born Simon Phelan, the company said it is on track to see year-on-year growth of more than 400%.

Maybe UK boiler market is not glamorous as it is seen, but it has a huge potential when it comes to installation of 1.7 million units every year. Earlier British consumers you choose between paying a premium to go with British Gas or to go with local tradesman who they may not know when it comes to installations.

According to the company, Hometree can deliver a boiler installations service by 50% as compared to British Gas, providing more transparent, convenient and trustworthy model to the people.

The company offers installation-qualified Gas Safe engineers that can be booked either online or via the phone, and claims to provide longer warranties and guarantees than other companies.

Next move ahead

 With the latest round of funding for Hometree will allow brand to invest in its organization and to expand in other parts of United Kingdom over next 18 months. Currently Hometree is based out of Essex and London but also has started installing boiler in other parts of England. It is also keen to move beyond boiler installations into a broader home services proposition, with smart home and insurance key areas the business is exploring.

Commenting on the latest funding Mr. Phelan said: “We never started Hometree with the ambition of just building an online boiler installation service, and this investment from one of the world’s largest financial institutions is testament to the market opportunity we recognized in the broader smart home space. Adding “By taking a highly customer-centric approach to a long underserved market, we have seen significant growth, and have developed a fantastic platform to offer increasingly attractive products and services into the home.

The new series of funding was led by AV8 ventures and is one of the first investments made under its newly formed €150 million fund. Other backers include  Paul Pindar, chairman of listed online estate agent Purplebricks and mattress maker Eve Sleep. He is best known for leading British outsourcing giant Capita for 23 years.

In addition, the likes of Better Capital boss Jon Moulton and former GEEurope chief executive Mark Hutchinson are also investors in Hometree.