Zoopla Integrates Acquisitions, Stays Aggressive

Zoopla, the property portal for estate agents, have been busy bees for the last few months. They acquired both Thinkproperty and Propertyfinder for undisclosed sums and are now integrating them into the main website, taking over their user bases in the process.

Zoopla seem to have taken a really aggressive strategy right from the start and it’s interesting after watching the start-up panel at A4uExpo last week. There’s a link I promise….

The panel at A4uExpo was dominated by Spotify and Seatwave, both of whom have VC-funding. Their start-up strategies were very different to what I’d consider ‘normal’ for a lot of entrepreneurs. Because of the funding, the management team were able to work on their projects full time – I gathered from their talks that they didn’t have day-jobs and they didn’t want for resources. Spotify even hired a whole class of development whizz-kids to get the platform off the ground.

Zoopla are also backed by two VC firms – Atlas Venture and Octopus Ventures. Of course, this funding might not have paid for their aggressive business strategy, but I bet it certainly helped

In general terms, VC funding seems to let you hire staff, pay for advertising and even buy competitors, all before earning a penny. Great for entrepreneurs, but don’t forget – the investors will want their money back!

I’ve always liked seeing what Zoopla do, just because they’re the most aggressive players in the marketplace today. With the backing they have, Rightmove should be worried!