MovingWaldo, a Montreal-based online platform for comparing moving quotes and booking verified movers, has acquired competitors MoveMate.ca and Gvota.ca to become Canada’s leading digital moving platform.

“For us, it was a play to grow our audience, help more people move and grow our network of movers,” says Guillaume Lahoud, CEO and co-founder of MovingWaldo.

Terms of the deals for the two other Quebec-based platforms were not disclosed. MoveMate.ca and Gvota.ca will continue to operate. Lahoud says the acquisitions will allow MovingWaldo to service more people in major cities by onboarding moving companies that were on MoveMate and Gvota.

Founded in 2015, MovingWaldo helps people find reliable moving companies, get online estimates and book their moves entirely online. It claims to have had more than 255,000 customers since its launch. The company had six employees prior to the acquisitions, and its name is a wink to the phrase “where’s Waldo?”

A seamless moving process

“We manage the whole process, from getting the estimates all the way to until the move is completed and payment is processed and the customer is satisfied,” Lahoud says.

Montreal is its biggest market, but the company has a presence in 13 other major Canadian cities. MovingWaldo also supports moves cross-country and to the U.S. and works with more than 100 verified movers. “It’s a solution for customers that want to have simplicity, transparency in pricing (and) access to multiple quotes,” he says.

Lahoud says many people still choose movers based on radio ads or through recommendations from relatives. Online quotes for moves began only about five years ago and the number of people booking moves online “is still really under what it should be if you compare it to other industries like travel.”

Much of the moving industry has been built by companies that have been around a long time that have not evolved as quickly as has technology, Lahoud says.

“There is a younger generation of people working in this industry and they’re looking for new solutions. I think it’s our role to help customers benefit from these advances,” he says. “As people get more comfortable with our solutions and hear more about it, we’re going to be able to take a lot more market share.”

Company emerged from an incubator program

Lahoud says half of the platform’s customers come from partner referrals, including from individual realtors, for sale by owner firm DuProprio and Quebec home listing site Centris.

MovingWaldo emerged from the Concordia University incubator program and was initially launched as a one-stop change of address service for people who were moving.

In 2017, the MovingWaldo co-founders made an appearance on Dans l’oeil du dragon, Radio-Canada’s version of Dragon’s Den, but did not receive a deal.

Soon after it launched, MovingWaldo started to get requests for referrals for moving companies. It vetted companies based on online reviews and interviews with owners and put companies it felt were reliable on its website.

Overcoming early problems

MovingWaldo would receive ad revenue when customers clicked on moving partners. The process came to an end around 2022 when MovingWaldo learned one of the companies it was referring for long distance moves was under investigation by the Canadian Association of Movers for scamming customers.

“That day we were like, ‘Oh my god, what are we doing here?’ Our goal was really to help customers, and, in a way, we were sending them to bad places. That’s when we decided we needed to go further in the transaction, and really make it a fully transactional marketplace where we could really help customers because we control the whole experience right from the beginning.”

MovingWaldo’s algorithms calculate moving quotes based on various factors such as the distance between your current and new address, hourly labour costs, estimated relocation time, and any additional fees for special items. The platform takes a deposit from customers and movers are not paid until customers are satisfied with their move.

Transparent pricing

Lahoud says MovingWaldo ensures transparent pricing and fair invoices. “If we estimate (the move is) going to take eight hours and it takes six hours, they’re only going to pay for six hours.”

The company also helps with claims if items were broken or damaged during the move. Customer service is available by phone or email for clients seeking help during the moving process.

Moving companies MovingWaldo works with go through a verification process that considers factors such as accreditations (membership in the Canadian Association of Movers and ratings from the Better Business Bureau), client reviews, interviews, years of experience, professionalism, and overall positive online presence.

Verified movers must have at least $2 million in liability insurance and adequate legal cargo protection, according to the website. Movers that obtain clients through the platform pay MovingWaldo a commission.

Lahoud says MovingWaldo tends to work with smaller companies with two to five trucks, on average. “The owners are really motivated,” he says. “They want to offer the best customer service and make sure that if anything happens on the move, they’ll be there to fix it.”