Type Private Owner Buyers Unite Inc. | Founded October 2009 | |
 | ||
Industry group buying, one deal a day Founder Edward Yao, Andrew Hutchings, Ghassan Halazon, Omar Sahyoun, Matthew Morris Headquarters 82 Peter Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1P8, Canada Area served National Canada, United States | ||
Acce 2012 best start up award teambuy ca
TeamBuy.ca is an e-commerce company founded in October 2009 as the first daily deal site in Canada, gaining first mover advantage. TeamBuy was the largest deals marketplace in the Canada. TeamBuy was acquired by US based e-commerce portfolio player NC Commerce Inc. in 2014.
Contents
- Acce 2012 best start up award teambuy ca
- Funding
- Headquarters
- Satellite Offices
- Expansion
- Vertical Markets
- Merger with Dealfind
- Purchased by nCrowd Commerce Inc
- References
Prior to the acquisition, TeamBuy and its subsidiaries had rumored sales of $60M per year with a staff of 120, making it the largest deals marketplace in the country, and one of the largest Canadian e-commerce players in general. Ghassan Halazon was the CEO of the Company from March 2010 until it was sold in September 2014. TeamBuy.ca was distinct from some of its competitors as it is both owned and operated in Canada. The start up leverages the Chinese group buying concept of tuangou to obtain discounts for its clients. These discounts typically range anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of the item's regular market price.
TeamBuy.ca's business model was initially based on group buying and one deal a day. In recent years, TeamBuy has evolved into a broader deal destination site providing offers on a wide range of local services, products and travel offers across Canada. Some of the categories of services offered include restaurants, home and decor, entertainment, vacations, and health & beauty.
Having saved consumers ~$1 Billion and partnered with over 20,000 merchants, TeamBuy re-imagined the original deal-a-day business model to emerge as a broader destination e-commerce site that encompasses thousands of offers on local experiences, travel, products, home & decor, fashion, electronics, beauty, gifts, flyers, coupons, cars and advertising/listing services for local merchants (MenuPalace.com).
CIBC named TeamBuy.ca one of Canada's "Top 30 Hottest Technology Companies" in 2013.
Funding
TeamBuy's growth was supported by private investors that include Insight Venture Partners (New York), ru-Net (Moscow), and Georgian Partners (Toronto) and Social Generations (Dubai) among others. The company was initially featured on CBC Dragons' Den during Season 5, Episode 2 in its early start-up stage, ultimately resulting in two offers by the Dragons.
On July 21, 2011, TeamBuy announced it had received round A funding from ruNet investor of $7 million.
On February 22, 2012, TeamBuy announced it had closed a $5 Million financing round from existing shareholders and will be using the funding to expand newly launched Kids & Baby and Home categories.
Headquarters
TeamBuy has its national headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The location of its building is 82 Peter Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1P8.
Satellite Offices
TeamBuy utilizes a network of local sales executives across the country to source merchant partners. These employees are stationed in multiple major cities across Canada.
Expansion
TeamBuy.ca has expanded into vertical markets as of June 2011, emerging as a one stop shop for all things savings. The deal a day model was transitioned into a broad based marketplace with thousands of deals at any given time.
Vertical Markets
TeamBuy Travel was launched in June 2011 as TeamBuy.ca's vertical market offer. It offers travel deals to Canadians daily.
TeamBuy Kids and Baby and TeamBuy Home and Decor was launched in February 2012
TeamBuy launch local flyers and Coupons sections to get deals and coupons from local stores like Best Buy, The Home Depot, etc.
Merger with Dealfind
On January 15, 2013 Teambuy announced they would be merging with Canadian daily deal rival, Dealfind.com. The merger will make the combined company the largest independent daily deal company in Canada. Ghassan Halazon became CEO of the combined company while the former Dealfind founders left the venture.
Purchased by nCrowd Commerce Inc.
In September, 2014, TeamBuy was acquired by NC Commerce Inc., a US based e-commerce group with over 35 acquisitions. Ghassan Halazon, TeamBuy's CEO and a number of other key executives departed the company around the time of the sale.