AN ONLINE marketplace set up to rival the likes of Amazon and eBay has raised £35million of new investment.

Poole-headquartered OnBuy.com features more than 7,000 retailers hosting more than 36million products.

In four years, it has reached a gross merchandise value of £155m with its first £8m of investment.

Cas Paton, founder and chief executive of OnBuy, said; “The global e-commerce market is expected to total 4.2 trillion US dollars by the end of 2021, a figure that is set to grow even more over the next few years.

“However it’s alarming to see that the industry is still following the same detrimental and unfair marketplace model that has existed for years.

“I created OnBuy to provide something unique: a clear, level playing field – and in our four years of rapid growth, it’s clear to see that this is a model that works to everyone’s advantage.

“This investment will allow us to unlock even more potential and take OnBuy to the next level with an even better, easier to use product than ever before. We’ve made it this far with the help of our early angels, amazing team, trusted retailers and of course all of our amazing customers, but we’re not nearly done yet. We’re here to make noise, challenge the status quo and change the digital marketplace landscape forever.”

The investors included Bring Ventures, the venture arm of Norway Post; Fuel Ventures; Guy Hands, the founder and chairman of Terra Firma Capital Partners; Knut Frangsmyr, deputy chief executive of Klarna ;and Richard Goulding, founder of Play.com.

OnBuy said the investment would enable it to further develop its product for both sellers and consumers, as well as pursuing global expansion.

Thomas Tscherning of Bring Ventures, EVP Norway Post, said, “OnBuy has experienced tremendous growth and we believe the company has a very promising future ahead. We look forward to being a part of OnBuy’s continued growth through this venture investment that we believe will strengthen our portfolio of e-commerce activities.”

OnBuy’s staff team has increased from 14 to 85 since 2020.

Sales on the platform grew by 870 per cent in the year to November 2020 and were forecast to reach £2billion by the end of 2023. Mr Caton pledged it would be Dorset’s first “unicorn” tech company – the term for a privately held business valued at a billion US dollars.