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Ecommerce startup founded by 21-year-old entrepreneur closes $3.2m Series A

London-based startup Paddle has just closed a $3.2m Series A investment round led by BGF Ventures.

The Series A, which also included participation from private equity firm Spring Partners, follows backing from Balderton Capital’s Mark Evans and the founder of website MyVoucherCodes, Mark Pearson.

Founded in 2012 by serial entrepreneur Christian Owens, the company bills itself as ‘Shopify for business software’, providing software companies with a platform to sell their products internationally, handling sales tax and fraud prevention, as well as supporting major payment methods.

Owens, who was awarded a Thiel Fellowship in 2016, explained how he drew on his own experience as a software developer when developing Paddle’s eCommerce platform.

He said: “As a developer myself, I didn’t want to have to deal with all of these distractions, I just wanted to build software.

“We know that this is a common problem for software businesses. We created Paddle to give them the tools they need so that they can have a first-class eCommerce operation and concentrate their efforts on making great products.”

The company has grown significantly over the past three years, enjoying 300-400% growth year-on-year and now boasts a 16-strong team with an average age of just 27.

Paddle says that over 400 businesses are now using its services, equating to over a million transactions per year.

According to Owens, the new funding will be able to unlock further growth for the company and allow it to expand it customer service and marketing efforts.

“We haven’t done any marketing at all so far. Our growth to date has been from referrals, word of mouth and a small sales team. We’re hoping to scale up our sales and marketing efforts with this funding,” added Owens.

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