Dorset Business Angels’ (DBA) investment has helped fuel OnBuy’s unparalleled growth. The impressive pitch by OnBuy’s founder and CEO, Cas Paton, to the Angels back in 2019 grabbed the attention of DBA Angel investor Mark Entwistle.
The opportunity was subsequently referred to fellow Angel investors at the Surrey Investors’ Club, leading to a team of investors, headed up by Mark Entwistle, to carry out due diligence and invest a total of £125,000 as part of the last seed round before OnBuy’s £5m Series A in June 2020. Mark was joined in his investment by Gary Kyle and Michael Penny.
Founded in the UK in 2016 by entrepreneur Cas Paton, OnBuy is a marketplace on a mission to revolutionise the eCommerce sector by providing a fair, transparent and ethical platform that benefits buyers and sellers.
OnBuy is a true marketplace, not a retailer, so it doesn’t sell its own products in competition with the trusted online retailers that sell through the platform. From household names to independent sellers, buyers can shop securely for millions of products from a range of categories, such as electricals, beauty, home and garden, toys, and baby supplies.
2020 was a landmark year for OnBuy – bolstered by the success of its wide-scale Q4 marketing campaign, the company achieved 605% year to date growth, resulting in its third consecutive year of over 600% growth. With January 2021 running at over 800% growth already, the marketplace has seen sales soar from a run rate of £24 million to over £200 million. Monthly users are trending at just under 7 million, highlighting the increasing popularity and credibility of the brand.
Cas Paton, founder and CEO of OnBuy, said, “Thanks to organisations like Dorset Business Angels, OnBuy is quickly becoming a household name in the UK. The investment and support from Mark Entwistle and the other Angel investors has helped us to quickly take advantage of a global opportunity. We have made immense headway in achieving our mission to revolutionise the eCommerce sector.
“OnBuy is about to commence a global scale-up and that will see us expand from the UK to over 140 countries. Some countries feature significantly larger eCommerce markets than the UK, so we’re going to skyrocket in terms of growth this year. I’m grateful to the Angels for their support – we wouldn’t be thriving as we are now without it.”
DBA investor Mark Entwistle advised, “Part of OnBuy’s success thus far is that they’re really not competing with their sellers, so they’re not selling their own products. I think this has been a key driver in the growth that they’ve achieved so far. The innovative operational tools that OnBuy have already built and harnessed within their system will enable them to grow efficiently in the future. I am delighted that Dorset Business Angels and the wider Angels network has been, and continues to be, a part of their journey.”
About OnBuyOnBuy offers competitive prices on millions of products supplied by thousands of trusted online retailers. From household names to independent sellers, buyers can shop securely for products from a range of categories, such as electricals, beauty, home and garden, toys, and baby supplies. Founded in the UK in 2016 by entrepreneur Cas Paton, OnBuy is on a mission to revolutionise the eCommerce sector by providing a fair, transparent marketplace that benefits buyers and sellers.● OnBuy launched a national prime-time TV advertising campaign across all ITV channels and streaming services in 2020● OnBuy was awarded eCommerce Company of the Year in the 2020 UK Tech Business Awards, Retail Without Borders’ 2020 Marketplace Winner, and on 11th December Cas won ‘Founder of the Year’ from the Startup Growth Awards 2020● In 2020, 42 countries were beta-tested for global expansion of the OnBuy platform, with 100 more countries to follow between 2021 and 2023● 60-plus employees recruited in Dorset, scaling the OnBuy team by over 420% in just 9 months● 600-plus new sellers onboarded each month*(*average)● 605% year-on-year growth● £2.5m in sales on Black Friday alone in 2020● £50m slashed from product prices for the Black Friday sale, thanks to OnBuy’s discounted seller fees● £170m+ in annual sales (2020)● OnBuy will be opening an office in Manchester in 2021, creating at least 100 jobs in the area in the next two years● OnBuy is the world’s fastest-growing online marketplace● OnBuy is the UK’s most trusted online marketplace