£1m equity deal sealed for fast-expanding e-commerce venture
The team at e-commerce venture Shopblocks has completed its biggest funding round to date to accelerate the growth of its ecommerce website platform.
Led by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and a group of private investors, Shopblocks has completed a £1m equity investment.
The current 50-strong team based in Stockport plans to hire a further 100 staff across all divisions including its growing US operation and new Australia office.
Shopblocks provides websites to all types of business, but specialises in online shops.
The Shopblocks platform is feature-rich and flexible enough to handle the complex needs of larger businesses.
Chief commercial officer, Stewart Reynolds, said: “A few years ago, as businesses outgrew basic template-driven platforms such as Shopify, Wix and Squarespace, their only option was to have a specialist digital agency create a bespoke solution for their needs, which requires a lot of time and a huge budget.
“For businesses taking the next step on their ecommerce journey, Shopblocks provides custom online shops at scale, without the need for one-size-fits-all templates or developers, at a fraction of the cost of a web development agency.”
Shopblocks has more than doubled revenue each of the past four years in a row and this growth is set to continue.
Each day, millions of transactions are processed via the platform for merchants in UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries around the world.
Chief executive, Kevin Jones, said: “The pandemic has accelerated the already booming drive to online commerce.
“Despite the challenges, Shopblocks has doubled in size through the lockdown period and this investment will see us grow faster than we’ve ever grown before.
“The shift to ecommerce has been brought forward a full decade,” he added.
“We’ve seen thousands of businesses re-platform to Shopblocks and benefit from our advanced features for both B2C and B2B organisations. Good things come to those who migrate.”
He said: “We believe in speaking to our customers and our presence in Australia will enable us to deliver 24/7 global support for all customers, worldwide, an ambition I’ve had for some time. No other website platform provides this.”
Cllr David Molyneux, portfolio leader for investment and resources at the GMCA, said: “We are delighted to provide follow-on funding to Shopblocks in support of the rapid growth of the platform and customer base.
“The significant growth in the Shopblocks team is set to continue in Stockport, with the company actively supporting the Kickstart and GM Good Employment Charter schemes through hiring and upskilling people in Greater Manchester in digital and creative roles.”
