Australian social network site Nabo.com.au has appointed Nat Thomas as marketing director.

Nabo aims to build stronger, safer and healthier communities by enabling Australians, community organisations and groups to share local news, events, initiatives and recommendations with each other. Nabo launched in December 2014, having secured $2.25 million in funding by investors, including Reinventure Group and Seven West Media.

Thomas brings to Nabo more than 15 years of global online marketing experience for leading digital brands, including senior executive roles at Gumtree and eBay.

Leading marketing and PR at Gumtree Australia, Thomas developed campaigns that grew the brand’s user base seven-fold over three years, and played an instrumental role in its triple-digit growth two years in a row, after which Gumtree secured a position among Australia’s top 10 websites. As General Manager at Gumtree Singapore, he was responsible for the brand’s 70 per cent year-on-year growth. He has previously held marketing roles at Tribal DDB, Adobe and Travelzoo.

As Nabo marketing director Thomas will have a key role in building Nabo’s presence, extending Nabo to every suburb across Australia by the end of 2015, as well as to have 60 councils, 6000 local community groups and local authorities on board.

Thomas said of his appointment: “The opportunity to work at Nabo is beyond exciting. We have a proven business model, the highest calibre executive and team and the support of strong, dedicated investors. I’m looking forward to working closely with our partners to grow Nabo into a major consumer brand and site used by hundreds of thousands of Australians every day”.

Thomas says he is excited that Nabo enables Australians to foster stronger and healthier connections in communities and provides a much-needed new way for people to get the best out of their neighbourhoods: “Individuals can tap into local knowledge – whether it’s finding a trusted babysitter, tradie or restaurant recommendation – and keep up to date with all the latest news and events in their neighbourhood. There is enormous potential for brand growth.”