Christian Owens: Paddle

Christian Owens, 21
Company: Paddle
Web: www.paddle.com

By the time he started Paddle in 2012, then 18 year old Christian Owens was already a veteran of the technology sector, having launched his first internet company aged just 14.

After leaving school at 16, Owens became involved with Branchr Advertising – which secured contracts with William Hill and Myspace – and now aged 21, our youngest Young Gun is already CEO of a business with a multi-million turnover. Paddle provides a toolkit to help app developers grow, monetise and build their business through a combination of analytics, payments, communications and marketing elements. The tools are available in a single dashboard, enabling developers to understand their users, take payments, engage with customer support and grow without the hassle and cost of implementing lots of different services.

Thanks to its streamlined and accessible approach, Paddle has found favour with hundreds of small businesses and developers since launch, and investors have also taken note. Backed by £1m of funding, Owens plans to invest in product development and predicts that his fledgling start-up will change the way people build digital businesses in the coming years.

Judging by his stellar success at such a young age, we’re inclined to believe him.