Vivastreet

What Vivastreet does

Vivastreet, operated by Digital Ventures Services Ltd, is a UK-headquartered online classifieds marketplace founded in 2005 that enables consumers, small businesses, and independent service providers to post and browse free and paid advertisements across a broad horizontal mix of categories including property (rentals, sales, flatshare, commercial), vehicles (cars, motorcycles, vans, boats), jobs, services (tradesmen, IT, health/beauty, transport), buy & sell (electronics, fashion, home goods), and personals/adult dating. The platform runs on a self-serve, product-led growth model with localized geographic targeting across more than a dozen UK regions and country-dedicated sites for Ireland, Belgium, and France; users create accounts and post ads directly with minimal friction, and the company monetizes via premium/featured ad upgrades and fees on selected adult categories that fund safety and security measures.

The product surface combines a multi-category marketplace workflow (category selection, postcode-prefixed location targeting, multi-step ad creation, ad-management account features with statistics) with content-moderation and trust infrastructure, including automated screening against a prohibited terms list, multi-stage risk assessment on accounts, human moderation teams, and third-party Yoti identity verification for higher-risk advertisers. A differentiated strand of the business is its adult-services and escort/massage category, which is wrapped in a documented safety ecosystem — partnerships with National Ugly Mugs (since 2015), ClientEye (since 2018), Unseen's Modern Slavery Helpline, Stop the Traffik staff training, and Pineapple Support — alongside compliance alignment with the UK Online Safety Act (mandatory Yoti identity verification for adult-category advertisers from March 2025).

Vivastreet makes money primarily through freemium listing economics: most categories are free to post, while premium upgrades boost ad visibility (with disclosed outcomes of ~15% more calls for verified premium ads) and selected adult listings carry a fee intended to cover safety overhead. Go-to-market is organic — content marketing via an active blog, social channels (Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube), and SEO for local-intent search — with no sales-led motion. The company is private, has 51–100 employees, reports no funding rounds, and does not publicly disclose revenue; its parent, Digital Ventures Services Ltd, is described as a strategic operating company.

Name

Vivastreet

Legal name

Digital Ventures Services Ltd

Website

https://vivastreet.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Vivastreet is a UK-based horizontal online classifieds marketplace operated by Digital Ventures Services Ltd, serving consumers, SMBs, and independent adult-service providers across property, vehicles, jobs, services, buy & sell, and personals categories via a freemium self-serve model across the UK, Ireland, Belgium, and France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Handsworth

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Freemium Classified Listings: Most categories on Vivastreet are free to post. The platform generates revenue from premium upgrades and featured ad placements. Some adult categories charge a fee for posting to cover safety and security measures.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Vivastreet operates an online classifieds marketplace where individuals and small providers post and browse ads across categories including property, jobs, vehicles, services, buy & sell, personals, and adult services. Most categories are free to post, with revenue generated from premium/featured ad upgrades (subscription) and paid listings in select adult categories. The platform layers automated ad screening, Yoti identity verification, and multi-stage risk assessment for user safety.

Product overview

Vivastreet is a classified advertising marketplace platform operated by Digital Ventures Services Ltd, offering a multi-category platform where users can post and browse ads across Property (rental, sale, flatshare), Vehicles (cars, motorcycles, vans, boats), Jobs, Services (tradesmen, IT, professional), Buy & Sell (electronics, fashion, home goods), and Personal/Dating categories. The platform includes a significant Adult Services section featuring escort and massage listings with enhanced safety measures. The core offering combines the general classifieds marketplace with dedicated sex worker support resources, including a blog with safety guides, industry interviews, and a Safety Hub. Most categories are free to post with some premium options available for upgraded visibility.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Vivastreet Classifieds Platform Online classified advertising marketplace enabling users to post and browse free and paid ads across multiple categories including property, vehicles, jobs, services, buy & sell, and personals/dating. Designed for individual posters and browsers seeking local UK listings.
• Adult Services Category (Escorts, Massages, Adult Dating) Dedicated section for adult dating services including escorts, massages, gay escorts, trans escorts, adult entertainment, and swingers, with location-based search, posting fees in select categories, and safety verification features such as Yoti identity verification and ClientEye access.
• Premium / Featured Ad Upgrades Subscription-based upgrade option allowing users to boost ad views and ad performance statistics. Claimed benefit of 15% more calls with verified/featured ads, plus ad verification badge.

Quantifiable outcome

• 15% more calls with verified ads

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• National Ugly Mugs (NUM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Vivastreet has partnered with National Ugly Mugs since 2015, providing all advertisers with free membership to NUM. NUM provides access to an online warning system for dangerous individuals, helping sex workers screen clients and report incidents. Partnership includes exploration of wellbeing and career transition services.
• ClientEyecoreTechnology or IntegrationClientEye is a safety app created in 2018 allowing sex workers to screen phone numbers of potential clients for negative reports. Vivastreet provides financial support, advertising space, and free access to ClientEye for customers in the Escort and Massage category via the platform.
• UnseencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVivastreet partners with Unseen, the charity operating the UK's Modern Slavery Helpline. Users can report concerns about potential exploitation via a 'Concerns of Exploitation' button on each advert, with reports going directly to Unseen for prompt response.
• Stop the TraffikcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVivastreet commissioned Stop the Traffik, a specialist charity, to develop industry-first training programmes for all customer-facing staff on spotting potential harm and handling circumstances appropriately. Ongoing partnership strengthens risk mitigation framework and safeguarding procedures.
• YoticoreTechnology or IntegrationYoti provides third-party identity verification including enhanced phone, email, and age verification. Required for advertisers in certain higher-risk groups. Vivastreet partnered with Yoti to implement mandatory ID verification for UK adult category advertisers from March 2025.
• Pineapple SupportminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMental health support partnership providing resources for sex workers. Pineapple Support offers mental health and wellbeing services for adults in the sex industry, addressing unique challenges faced by the community.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Rightmove: UK's dominant property vertical; directly competes with Vivastreet's Property segment for intent-rich property search traffic. Comparable audience but specialized rather than horizontal in scope.
• OLX: Global classifieds platform operating across multiple emerging and developed markets. Comparable horizontal marketplace model, freemium posting and ad-promotion revenue logic, at substantially larger scale.
• Craigslist: The original horizontal classifieds model. Comparable category architecture, free-posting philosophy and regional targeting, though US-centric and lacking Vivastreet's adult-compliance infrastructure.
• Auto Trader: UK's leading vehicle vertical marketplace; competes head-on with Vivastreet's Motors category and represents the structural vertical threat facing horizontal classifieds players.

Regional players

• Marktplaats: Netherlands' dominant horizontal classifieds marketplace (Adevinta/eBay). Closely comparable category breadth and freemium/ad-upgrade model; adjacency rather than direct competition given different primary geography.
• Kijiji: eBay-owned horizontal classifieds in Canada. Comparable category breadth and freemium pricing model; geographic adjacency rather than direct competition.
• Avito: Largest horizontal classifieds platform in Russia and emerging markets. Comparable self-serve, multi-category free classifieds model with paid promotions.

Direct peers

• leboncoin: France's leading horizontal classifieds marketplace, where Vivastreet also operates (vivastreet.com). Directly comparable in product mix, freemium model and category breadth.
• Gumtree: UK's flagship horizontal classifieds marketplace owned by Adevinta/eBay. Most direct comparability: free local listings across property, jobs, vehicles, buy & sell and services/dating, with similar self-serve posting and regional taxonomy.
• Preloved: UK-based free classifieds site focused on second-hand goods, with similar self-serve posting and regional/category-based browse. Comparable scope within Buy & Sell vertical.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/vivastreet_uk
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCiLEB5oT_KdqEYELrcMKaHA
• Facebookfacebook.com/vivastreetFBUK
• Instagraminstagram.com/vivastreetuk_
• TikToktiktok.com/@vivastreetuk_

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Vivastreet