OnBuy Named As One Of The UK’s Fastest Growing Tech Companies

• OnBuy named as one of Deloitte's fastest-growing tech companies
• OnBuy records meteoric 3402% growth
• CEO Cas Paton was warned: “Don’t take on Amazon”
• Growth forecast for next two years with overseas expansion on the horizon

British online marketplace OnBuy has been named as one of the country’s fastest-growing tech companies.

OnBuy’s rapid rise to success has been officially recognised by one of the country’s leading technology awards programmes, the UK Technology Fast 50 2022.

In Deloitte's prestigious ranking of the UK's fastest-growing tech companies, the marketplace ranked 11th overall, with a huge 3402 per cent growth, based on revenue growth over the last four years, and also secured top spot for the South-west region. 

Cas Paton launched eCommerce company OnBuy in 2016, amid industry-wide scepticism that he could succeed. 

OnBuy’s success flies in the face of the experience of a number of other bigger brands – Halfords, Toys ‘R Us, Rakuten and Tesco all tried and failed to launch their own marketplaces.

But six years later, Paton’s gamble has paid off spectacularly. The Bournemouth-based business has boomed and is now partnered with 17,000 retailers, offering shoppers the choice of a whopping 42 million products onsite.  

While OnBuy recorded its best sales month of the year in October 2022, Amazon shares haemorrhaged value and other rivals watched helplessly as sales fell. 

Image : Cas Paton (R), founder of OnBuy 

Paton, 38, said: “When I launched OnBuy six years ago, I was told time and time again by industry ‘experts’ that taking on the likes of Amazon was a ‘losing battle’ and ‘impossible’. 

“But I was always steadfast in my belief that there was room for an online marketplace that does things differently. We have done the ‘impossible’.  

“We embarked on a journey to create a marketplace that provides a better, fairer choice for sellers and consumers. We pledged to work together to take on the incumbent monopoly and start something special. We are now the fastest growing company in the south-west for the second year running.” 

OnBuy sets itself apart from competitor brands by refusing to compete with onsite sellers, in contrast to the likes of Amazon. 

And investors clearly have faith in OnBuy’s approach – the company recorded a staggering £35m funding round in 2021. 

Following a successful period for the business, marked by the inclusion in the Fast 50, OnBuy forecasts continued growth over the next two years, with an ever-increasing market share.

And while the UK-born company exclusively operates on home soil currently, Cas and his team are aiming to expand overseas in the very near future - a signal of the firm’s intent and ambition to mix with the industry’s heaviest hitters. 

Paton said: “While we know there is room for multiple online marketplaces, our incredible growth since launching, particularly over the past two years, has put us hot on the tails of the likes of Amazon and eBay.  

“We see what enormous multinationals like that have done right, but also what they have done wrong, and we’re using that knowledge to drive OnBuy forward in a new and innovative way.”

Source : OnBuy

Image : Cas Paton

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