Couple sell reviews website to New York ecommerce firm in £60m deal

The Reviews.io team

A Leicester-based reviews website has been sold to a major US software player in a deal worth almost £60m.

Reviews.io has been snapped up by ecommerce enablement platform AppHub in one of the biggest cross-border deals in the East Midlands this year.

Review.io was set up by husband and wife team Callum McKeefery and Nicole Albano from their kitchen table in 2012. Now, the company has over 70 staff based in Leicester, Irvine, Sydney and Berlin.

The deal will leave the pair with time to care for their son, who has a rare mitochondrial condition, which meant that Albano left the business in 2017 to look after her little boy full-time.

McKeefery said: “Deciding to sell Reviews.io was without doubt one of the biggest decisions of our life and one that we wrestled with day and night – made harder because of the wonderful clients, partners and team members we were working with. But it was also a decision partly made for us when our son Hudson was born.

“Having a child with special needs limits the risks you are willing to take and in all honesty, we needed to take some chips off the table.”

“We looked at various ways of doing this and eventually found AppHub. After several meetings spread out over 12 months we knew we had found the right partner. The team at Apphub are perfectly placed to help us take Reviews.io to the next level.

“It’s a huge achievement for any start-up to be purchased, and one that myself and all the team are very proud of. That said, I’m excited to work on the next chapter in the Reviews.io journey, and show you what we’re capable of achieving with a little funding in our pocket.”

As part of the deal, McKeefery has become a board member and shareholder in AppHub.

He added: “I’ll be sharing more details in the coming months, but for now, it’s business as usual.”

“I would like to thank all of the people who have worked with and for Reviews.io over the years. We wouldn’t be where we are now without you.”

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close