Launched two years ago, Anymaster quickly established itself as a trusted platform for skilled tradespeople, starting in Cyprus and now expanding to Athens.
By focusing on transparency, efficiency, and strategic partnerships with major retailers, Anymaster significantly improves service quality and speed.
Back in May 2024, we wrote about Anymaster: How Anymaster Is Redefining Service Marketplaces In Cyprus, Entrepreneurship Is A Marathon, Not A Sprint.
In this exclusive interview with Future Media, Diana Verkhoturova, shares the story behind Anymaster, its growth journey, key milestones, and plans for the future.
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Origins and Evolution
How did Anymaster begin, and what were the key insights behind its founding?
Anymaster was founded two years ago by Diana Verkhoturova as a solution to the lack of a trusted platform for finding reliable tradespeople in Cyprus. Initially launched as a web-based service, it quickly gained traction due to its focus on transparency and convenience in connecting clients with skilled service providers.
How has the company evolved, and how has its vision been refined?
As with any marketplace, we faced the challenge of solving the “chicken-and-egg” problem, balancing supply (service providers) and demand (clients needing services) to ensure a seamless experience for both sides.
We found a mutually beneficial partnership model with home DIY stores during our growth journey. Our first partnership was with Superhome Center, Cyprus’s largest home/DIY store chain. This collaboration allowed us to scale quickly and demonstrated the effectiveness of our platform in solving after-sales service challenges for large retailers.
Since its inception, Anymaster has expanded operations to four cities in Cyprus and launched in Athens. Strategic partnerships with home DIY retailers like Superhome Center have been pivotal, demonstrating a mutually beneficial model that solves after-sales service challenges for retailers while driving growth.
What is the size of your team, and what is the monthly burn rate?
The core team comprises 10 members, with two already stationed in Athens.
Is AI playing a role in Anymaster’s operations?
AI supports operations such as matching clients with service providers and optimizing pricing strategies. Future advancements will enhance efficiency and customer experience.
Success Metrics and Financials
What are the key metrics or milestones that demonstrate success in Cyprus?
Key milestones include partnerships with major Cypriot retailers like Superhome Center, Mr. Bricolage, and Mangas. These collaborations reduced the delivery and assembly times of our partners from 7–10 days to 1 day. Additionally, Anymaster’s client satisfaction and service reliability metrics highlight its success.
Can you share specific figures, such as user base or transactions?
The platform facilitates thousands of orders annually through partnerships and direct client bookings, connecting clients with vetted service providers. We have more than 2500 registered professionals with around 15% being monthly active and more than 10,000 clients with orders in Cyprus.
What are your financial results, and how do they influence growth?
Anymaster’s revenue model, driven by fees from completed orders, supports sustainable growth. We have not yet reached profitability as we invest a lot into team, growth and product development. But thanks to the strong B2B2C business model our unit economics (Revenue/CAC) are positive which gives us a huge incentive to scale operations.
Funding and Investment Plans
Was there any prior investment before the €350,000 funding round?
Anymaster initially raised funds from angel investors in Cyprus through the founder’s professional network of angels. The latest round was led by Oxean and supported by investors like Lamda Development and Theti Club.
How was the latest round raised?
It was quite a tough period and it actually hasn’t finished as we still expect some other investors to join and quite soon I will start outreach for our next round. It’s a never-ending process.
What I realised during this time is that it really takes time. The bigger the investor and the amount, the longer the process. But the burn rate takes our funds monthly, so even after some investment is raised, we are already preparing for the next run.
Why was the funding round limited to €350,000?
The round wasn’t capped at 350,000 and most probably will be bigger after the last investors contribute. But we didn’t want to sit and wait. We started our first operations in Athens and announced our investment now. This amount aligns with our immediate operational goals, such as the Athens launch. Future funding rounds will address broader expansion and growth.
Can you elaborate on the terms of the deal and investor alignment?
The investors align with Anymaster’s strategic goals, offering not just financial support but also operational guidance. The strategic investment from Lamda is particularly exciting, as their flagship project, Ellinikon, stands to benefit significantly from established service solutions like Anymaster.
Also, we can highlight one of our angel investors – Nicolas Meidanis, his main business also very strategically benefits from Anymaster, Anymaster products are very suitable to be used in their stores and to facilitate and give value to their network of electrician customers, while from the other hand, Anymaster benefit a lot to have such a strategically important market part as professional in electrical works.
How did the Lamda Development partnership come about?
Lamda was one of the investors we met through Theti Club. Lamda’s involvement stemmed from shared interests in innovative service solutions, especially in their flagship Ellinikonproject.
Does Lamda’s involvement go beyond financial support?
Yes, Lamda provides strategic insights to facilitate market entry and growth.
How will the new investment be allocated?
The funds will focus on establishing the Athens office, marketing, partnerships with local retailers, and platform technology enhancements.
Expansion to Athens
Why did you choose Athens for expansion?
Athens’ high homeownership rates and demand for quality home services made it a natural choice. It also presents a market ripe for efficiency improvements.
What challenges do you foresee in Greece, and how will you address them?
Key challenges include market penetration and building trust. We also have competitors on the market and quite a high resilience from grey zones in payments for such services. We believe that these are mitigated through strategic partnerships with DIY retailers and strong products that bring a lot of transparency in payments which bring safety and quality which brings trust
Are you already in talks with similar retailers in Greece?
Yes, partnerships with retailers like Meidanis are underway, with more discussions ongoing to replicate the success achieved in Cyprus.
Vision and Differentiation
How does Anymaster differentiate itself in a competitive space?
Anymaster’s unique B2B2C model and partnerships with DIY stores create an integrated ecosystem for services, setting it apart from generic service marketplaces. We bring high speed to the service market. For example, before Anymaster in Cyprus, big retailers had 7-10 days for delivery and assemblies while now it is reduced to 1 day. It is an enormous improvement in customer experience. As well, quality grew a lot, we facilitated quality control through collecting feedback and reviews for every completed order, to make sure that customers will have access to the best professionals on the market.
What is your long-term vision for Anymaster?
Our vision is to revolutionize the service marketplace across Europe by creating a seamless, tech-driven ecosystem that transforms how homeowners and service providers connect. We believe Anymaster has the potential to set new industry standards, from efficient service delivery to transparent digital payments and invoicing. While this long-term vision drives us, our immediate focus is on Athens, where we aim to solidify our presence, grow partnerships, and demonstrate the full potential of our model. Athens is just the beginning, and we are determined to bring this revolution to other markets soon.
