TeamBuy

TeamBuy.ca was an e-commerce company founded in Toronto by Edward Yao, Andrew Hutchings, Matthew Morris, and Ghassan Halazon 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.

TeamBuy.ca
Private
Industrygroup buying, one deal a day
FoundedOctober 2009
FounderEdward Yao, Andrew Hutchings, Ghassan Halazon, Omar Sahyoun, Matthew Morris
Headquarters
82 Peter Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5V 1P8
Area served
Canada, United States
Key people
Ghassan Halazon, Omar Sahyoun, Andrew Hutchings, Edward Yao
Number of employees
100+
Websitewww.teambuy.ca

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.[1] The start up leverages the Chinese group buying concept of tuangou to obtain discounts for its clients.[2] 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 50,000 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.

History

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,[3] 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.[4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

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[7] was launched in June 2011 as TeamBuy.ca's vertical market offer. It offers travel deals to Canadians daily.

TeamBuy Kids and Baby[8] and TeamBuy Home and Decor[9] was launched in February 2012 [10]

TeamBuy launch local flyers and Coupons[11] sections to get deals and coupons from local stores like Best Buy, The Home Depot, etc.[12]

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.[13]

Purchased by NC 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. NC Commerce's assets would later be sold to Buytopia, which is now an EMERGE Commerce Inc. portfolio company.

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References
  1. Tamara Baluja. "Getting a better deal by buying together", "Toronto Star", April 30, 2010, accessed July 21, 2011.
  2. "Reuters". August 27, 2010. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  3. "CBC's Dragon's Den". Season 5, Episode 2. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011.
  4. Techvibes Newsdesk. "Canadian group-buying site TeamBuy.ca raises $7 Million round". "TechVibes". July 28, 2011, accessed July 28, 2011.
  5. Techvibes. "TeamBuy raises 5 million and settles down with kids & baby and home categories"."Techvibes". February 22, 2012, accessed February 22, 2012
  6. Matt Hartley. "Wrestling with giants". "Financial Post". January 24, 2011, accessed July 21, 2011.
  7. "TeamBuy Travel".
  8. "TeamBuy Kids and Baby".
  9. "TeamBuy Home and Decor".
  10. "TeamBuy raises $5 Million and settles down with Kids & Baby and Home categories". Techvibes.
  11. "Coupons".
  12. "TeamBuy starts local Flyers and Coupons Sections".
  13. "Teambuy.ca and Dealfind.com announce industry-changing merger". www.newswire.ca.
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