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CASE STUDY
Angie’s List, a pioneer in online, local ratings and reviews

Angie’s List pioneered the concept of offering local ratings and reviews for local service providers—think plumbers, roofers, home contractors–online.

Background:

Angie’s List, co-founded by Angie Hicks, started off in 1995 as a small, bootstrapped local “ratings and reviews” business focused on home and lawn-care services. Company reps had literally gone door-to-door to acquire subscribers, but the company slowly grew and carved out a unique position nationwide in the large, highly fragmented and historically inefficient local-services market. Battery participated in a growth investment round at a critical point in the company’s history in 2008. At that time, the business model worked in a small number of markets, but it needed capital and expertise to expand across the U.S. The company’s partnership with Battery allowed that to happen.

Battery’s Impact:

  • Helped build out the executive team, with a particular emphasis on online-marketing talent;
  • Provided deep counsel on product and pricing strategy, as well as M&A strategy;
  • Steered the team through smart and steady growth nationwide, fending off competitors and copycats along the way; and
  • Supported continued investment in marketing to drive growth, while guiding the team on reducing the cost of customer acquisition—all while increasing retention rates and lifetime customer value.

Outcomes:

  • The company scaled to be the dominant player in its market, garnering millions of subscribers worldwide.
  • NASDAQ:  ANGI, November 2011
  • In 2017, IAC announced plans to acquire Angie’s List and combine it with IAC’s HomeAdvisor to form a new publicly-traded company called ANGI Homeservices Inc.
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The presented case study investment was made in particular economic and market conditions. There can be no assurance that Battery Venture would elect, or be able, to exploit similar opportunities in a similar manner under similar or different economic and market conditions. More generally, there can be no assurances that the Battery vehicles will have comparable investment opportunities in the future. No assumptions should be made that any investments identified above were profitable. It should not be assumed that recommendations made in the future will be profitable or comparable to the portfolio company described in this case study. For a full list of all Battery Ventures investments, please click here.

Details
Focus area
Consumer
INVESTED
2008
STATUS
NASDAQ: ANGI
Location
Indianapolis, Indiana
STAGE
Growth
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