If you’re like me, you can still remember groaning each time your parents turned on HGTV or spent a Saturday dragging you up and down the aisles of Home Depot, only to grow up and realize that there are few things more fulfilling than installing a custom backsplash.
For the millions who thrive on the power of DIY, website Hometalk has become a central source of inspiration and direction. Founded in 2011, the site has grown to serve its 17 million registered users more than 140,000 tutorials on everything from gardening to salvaging to reupholstering and more.
On Wednesday, Hometalk announced its next big milestone in the form its first institutional investment: a $15 million venture round. The round was led by early stage investment firm NFX, with participation from AltaIR Capital and WeWork founder and CEO Adam Neumann (should we be expecting WeDIY…?).
Currently, much of the content on Hometalk is user-generated. According to reports, the company plans on using a portion of its fresh funds to develop new, company-created elements of the site, including a “marketplace, subscription service and branded content.”
These tools are all natural complements to Hometalk’s ever-expanding library of tutorials, though more details on their exact nature has yet to be revealed.
The investment comes at an explosive time for the world of DIY. Statistics anticipate that the DIY market will be worth as much as $13.9 billion by the year 2021, and growth will continue to skyrocket. Yet, the exact reasons for this growth are still somewhat opaque.
Marketing experts point to an increasing interest in “experiences” among younger generations, while others point to the fact that young people are spending more time at home, which may inspire a desire to customize one’s living space. Of course, then there’s always social media: which has upped the ante for would-be DIY show-offs.
Whatever the reason and whatever the project, this week’s funding ensures Hometalk will still be there to help.
