People’s Champion Finalist: Flubit (2014)

Start-up name: Flubit
Founder: Bertie Stephens, 27 and Adel Louertatani
Started in: 2012
Based in: London
Business description: E-commerce marketplace

Shortlisted category:

Tech Business of the Year
Young Entrepreneur of the Year

The Flubit story:

Launched in 2012 from an idea developed in founder and CEO Bertie Stephen’s spare room, private marketplace Flubit looks to disrupt the way consumers and merchants use e-commerce. Having initially raised £50,000 investment capital to start the business, in less than two years the Tech City start-up has scaled rapidly.

Growing to a team of over 60 staff and 200 merchants, Flubit boasted revenues of £2.5m for 2013, and was also named ‘Start-up of the Year’ at the London Web Summit 2013. Its success to date has led investors to take note; earlier this year it raised a Series A funding round from Cocoon Wealth taking its total investment to date to £4m. The funding means that the company is now valued at £25m – a reflection of its potential in the industry.

Pitched as a new way to buy and sell, the tech start-up enables consumers to receive a discount on items they have already decided to purchase such as books, laptops, toys etc. while offering online retailers a new online platform to sell stock. It now has over 100,000 users, an impressive feat given the company’s first 80,000 users were acquired without any direct marketing, and counts Barclays as one of its key clients following a major commercial agreement for Barclaycard bespoke offers.

With Stephens’ focus firmly steered towards driving growth, the online business has recently “moved on to a bigger and better home” with new London headquarters making way for new developments and staff additions.

Why Flubit made our 50:

With a unique concept which has impressed online retailers, consumers and investors alike, Flubit has all the makings of a start-up success story. Stephens has previously said that he would like to see the business resemble Amazon in five years’ time – watch this space.

Where to find out more about Flubit:

Website: https://www.flubit.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/flubitweet
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flubit