E-commerce infomediary Buy.co.uk Ltd yesterday said it has raised 1.7m pounds ($2.8m) in its first round of venture funding, and will use the cash to grow the company to a point where it can hold an IPO some time during the second quarter of next year.
Buy.co.uk, which has no connection to Buy.com in the US, currently runs a web site aimed at providing consumers with comparative pricing from dealers of electricity, water, gas and telephony. It will use some of its new cash to launch its business-to-business portal, delivering information to SMEs on the best deals from office equipment vendors.
Revenues come from advertising on the consumer side, and charging commission of some vendors on the business side. Founder David Graham told ComputerWire that the company will not sell advertising on the business portal, or exclude those vendors that do not pay for inclusion. He says the site currently has approximately 50,000 users.
The firm has co-branding deals with portals such as Microsoft Network, Excite.co.uk Ltd, and Freeserve Plc, and says it intends to announce more soon. British Telecommunications Plc will next week launch a subscription-free internet access service with portal, aimed at SMEs, which indicates that net access among small businesses in the UK is growing.
