Online marketplace notonthehighstreet has been bought by Great Hill Partners, a Boston-based private equity business.
Great Hill Partners will become a majority shareholder in the business, with existing investors Burda Principal Investment and Industry Ventures also remaining as shareholders.
Notonthehighstreet did well throughout the coronavirus pandemic, boosting revenue by 50 per cent in the last year.
Its customer base grew by almost one million, and four times as many hand-picked small businesses featured on the site in the last year than in 2019.
Categories like homeware, gardenware and food and drink in particular have seen huge growth in the last year, with growth of more than 100 per cent each year-on-year.
The online marketplace said the deal would aid the experience of both the small business partners it works with, and customers.
Claire Davenport, CEO of notonthehighstreet, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to our founders and past shareholders for all they’ve done for the business to date, and we are delighted to work with digital growth experts Great Hill Partners, Burda and Industry for the next exciting stage of our growth. Each brings considerable expertise that will help us to build on the success we’ve seen so far.”
Peter Garran, a partner and Great Hill Partners, added: “Since its founding, notonthehighstreet has become the leading UK destination for unique products and gifts, with a stellar group of small business Partners and an extremely loyal customer base.
“We are excited to work with Claire and notonthehighstreet’s talented team, leveraging Great Hill’s experience in helping scale leading digital marketplace companies.”
Source: City A.M.
