Mano Mano in Bordeaux? It rhymes—and it’s official!
Following in the footsteps of major digital names such as OVH, BackMarket, Sigfox, Ubisoft and Betclic, ManoMano announced on November 5, 2018 its imminent arrival in the capital of the “good life”: Bordeaux. The company is expanding its offices in the heart of the “Sleeping Beauty”, a city that now finds itself at the center of the web boom, as demonstrated by this latest announcement from the marketplace.
A continuously growing marketplace
Created five years ago in Paris, the marketplace specializing in DIY and gardening products was founded by Philippe de Chanville and Christian Raisson, two pioneers of what would become a major part of the web’s future: the specialized marketplace.
Continuing to grow, ManoMano has nearly 1,600 merchants on its platform and currently has around two million customers. They never seem to get enough, and they are right! The digital world waits for no one, and this tools and DIY marketplace is a perfect example of its development.
| In short, ManoMano is:→ 6 markets: France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom → More than 200 employees in less than 5 years → A new member of Google’s Scale-Up VIP program (top 10 French start-ups) → Best e-commerce website in 2015, awarded by FEVAD |
Tech web specialists Made in Bordeaux
It’s official! ManoMano established itself in Bordeaux city center at the beginning of the year. The marketplace was primarily looking for developers and data scientists to support its continued expansion. Its development strategy has been carefully structured and refined over several years and is now increasingly focused on improving the technical side of the business.
The first new Bordeaux residents arrived “from Paris (certainly by train) with love” in November 2018, initially moving into temporary offices. At the beginning of 2019, they joined the coworking space of the Héméra accelerator. Soon, the marketplace’s new team will be complete and ready to begin the planned tech “work”, thanks to new DIY teammates who responded to the company’s humorous recruitment ads…
“PHP workbench
Symfony 3 hammer
Latest MySQL drill
Multi-purpose Git screwdriver
++ Knowledge of e-commerce challenges
++ Experience with high-volume websites”
A marketplace… with some serious power!
From its beginnings…
Philippe de Chanville explained to capital.fr: “Every Monday, we would tell each other about our weekend achievements,” while Christian Raisson added that they were far from satisfied with the existing players in the market: “The time wasted at Leroy Merlin, Castorama and others, their prohibitive prices, their complete lack of advice…”. And so, in 2012, with €25,000 each, the two friends decided to leave Otium Capital and focus on the market related to their passion: DIY.
…to its rise to the top
Today, ManoMano’s development has been largely supported by the €60 million it raised in 2017, allowing it to maintain its position as a leader in the marketplace sector. How? By negotiating highly competitive prices for its products, while leaving delivery to others, much like its competitor, the Amazon marketplace!
The marketplace’s strength lies in its personalized recommendations and the prominence given to community reviews. Customers can find genuine advice on each product page, which in some ways serves as a very practical and detailed “user manual”. The community is at the heart of the strategy: users can interact and communicate by contributing information about products and how to use them. A whole world of DIY, by ManoMano!
Bordeaux, the ideal new workshop for online DIY experts
An easily accessible metropolitan area and a thriving economic hub where many digital companies are now setting up shop, Bordeaux offers numerous advantages for businesses looking to establish themselves in the heart of southwestern France. Life is good in Bordeaux. The sun shines in Bordeaux. In Bordeaux, you drink good wine and life is beautiful!
“We are delighted about our imminent arrival in Bordeaux; the news immediately pleased our employees, who are enthusiastic about the quality of life offered by the region. We also strongly believe that the city’s attractiveness will allow us to recruit the best talent in tech, particularly developers, and thereby accelerate our development,”
Philippe de Chanville and Christian Raisson announced in a press release issued on November 5, 2018.
The key takeaway: ManoMano is Bordeaux’s new “unicorn”, a fast-growing company already well on its way with its strategy to conquer Bordeaux’s digital market!
