About DivideBuy
DivideBuy is a Financial Services company based in Newcastle Under Lyme (United Kingdom) founded in 2014 by Max William Thowless-reeves and Christopher Peter Martin, and was acquired by Zopa in February 2023. It operates as an interest-free credit is offered for consumer purchases via retail partners. DivideBuy has raised $89.86 million across 8 funding rounds from investors including Shawbrook Bank, Zopa and Paragon Bank. DivideBuy was last valued at $83.31 million in July 2021. Its website dividebuy.co.uk draws about 82 thousand monthly visits. DivideBuy offers products and services including Interest-Free Credit and Retail Finance Solutions. Its focus areas include FinTech, Alternative Lending, Online Lenders and Consumer Loans. Its legal entity is Zopa Bank Limited. Its competitors include Afterpay, Klarna, Zilch, Raylo Pay and Deko and 1 more; 4 of its 6 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
DivideBuy was established in 2014 as an online financing platform in the consumer credit sector. Interest-free credit options are provided to customers through partnerships with retailers, enabling purchases to be spread across monthly installments for up to 12 months. Operations focus on the UK market, facilitating accessible payment solutions without additional interest charges. Key figures include co-founder Max William Thowless-Reeves and founder Christopher Peter Martin.
- Headquarters Newcastle Under Lyme, United Kingdom
- Founders Max William Thowless-reeves, Christopher Peter Martin
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsFinancial Services
- Website category Finance · Financial Planning and Management
- Email••••••••
- Phone•••• ••••
- Website dividebuy.co.uk
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook Instagram YouTube
- Acquired by Zopa (Feb 2023)
- Legal Name Zopa Bank Limited
- Total Equity Funding$89.86M (USD)
in 8 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$414.32M (USD), Debt – Conventional
Sep 2021
- InvestorsShawbrook Bank
& 5 more
- Acquired byZopa
(Feb 2023)
Products & Services of DivideBuy
DivideBuy offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Interest-Free Credit and Retail Finance Solutions.
Enables shoppers to pay for purchases in installments without interest charges.
Helps merchants increase sales through credit options and eligibility checks.
Apps and channels of DivideBuy
its YouTube channel DivideBuy UK has 45 subscribers and 16 videos.
Videos from DivideBuy
The most watched videos on DivideBuy's YouTube channel, DivideBuy UK (45 subscribers). Click a video to play it here.
More on DivideBuy UK.
Funding Insights of DivideBuy
DivideBuy has successfully raised a total of $89.86M across 8 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Debt – Conventional round of $414.32 million completed in September 2021. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $89.86M
- Total Rounds 8
- Last Round Debt – Conventional — $414.32M
- First Round $281,800
(Jun 2014)
- Investors Count 5
All 8 funding rounds of DivideBuy with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2021 | $414.32M | Debt – Conventional | – | – | |
| Jul 2021 | $6.92M | Series B | $83.31M | Davidson Kempner Capital Management | – |
| Jan 2020 | $2.3M | Series B | $12.89M | – | – |
| Feb 2019 | $78.28M | Series B | – | Souter Investments | |
| Feb 2019 | – | Debt – Conventional | – | – | |
| Nov 2017 | $1.3M | Series A | $••••• | – | – |
| Aug 2015 | $779,300 | Seed | $••••• | – | – |
| Jun 2014 | $281,800 | Seed | $••••• | – | – |
| Date | Valuation | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 2021 | $83.31M | •••••••• |
| Jan 2020 | $12.89M | •••••••• |
| Nov 2017 | $••••• | •••••••• |
| Aug 2015 | $••••• | •••••••• |
Full valuation and stage history of DivideBuy
Every valuation point, the growth-stage changes (minicorn, soonicorn, unicorn) and the dates behind them require an active premium plan.
- All valuation points
- Stage changes
- Dates
- Exports
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Last known valuation $83.31M (Jul 2021). 6 investors in total: 5 institutional and 1 angel.
Investors in DivideBuy
DivideBuy has secured backing from 6 investors, including institutional, angel, and venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Shawbrook Bank, Zopa and Paragon Bank.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Souter Investments is engaged in private equity investments. | 2008 | souterinvestments.com | Edinburgh, United Kingdom | |
Global investment firm focusing on credit and event-driven opportunities worldwide. | 1983 | davidsonkempner.com | New York, United States | |
Commercial banking services are provided in the United Kingdom. | 2011 | shawbrook.co.uk | Brentwood, United Kingdom | |
Commercial bank | 1985 | paragonbank.co.uk | Solihull, United Kingdom | |
JM Jon Moulton | British investor with interests in India, founder of Better Capital, active in turnarounds | – | unknown_629d5fb490fb40acb | - |
Internet-first banking and loans are provided to consumers via app. | 2005 | zopa.com | London, United Kingdom |
Investor details for DivideBuy
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of DivideBuy
9 people are tracked at DivideBuy (7 in leadership, 2 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Max William Thowless-reeves | Co-Founder | Leadership |
Christopher Peter Martin | Founder | Leadership |
Katharine Thowless-Reeves | – | Leadership |
Aaron Bell | – | Leadership |
Ben Smith | Head Of Presales & Support | Leadership |
Rebecca Robinson | Head Product, Change And Transformation | Leadership |
Scott Winstanley | Head Of Marketing & Sales Enablement | Leadership |
Roy Hamilton | Onboarding Executive | Team |
Heather Wilkinson | Senior Content And PR Manager | Team |
Complete people profiles for DivideBuy
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
- Board tenure
- Professional contacts
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of DivideBuy
5 dated milestones of DivideBuy across 9 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded DivideBuy is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $282K.
- Milestone Reaches Minicorn status.
- Funding Latest funding round, Debt – Conventional, of $414.3M.
- Exit Acquired by Zopa.
Competitors of DivideBuy
DivideBuy has 6 listed competitors in our database, 4 of them funded. They include Afterpay, Klarna, Zilch, Raylo Pay and Deko, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| afterpay.com | 2014 | Melbourne, Australia | $35.37M | – | A buy now pay later service is offered by Afterpay. | |
| klarna.com | 2005 | Stockholm, Sweden | $4.19B | 369 | Point-of-sale financing is facilitated through an online platform for purchases. | |
| zilch.com | 2018 | London, United Kingdom | $566.17M | – | Direct-to-consumer ad-subsidised payments network | |
| raylopay.com | 2018 | London, United Kingdom | $7.67M | 69 | POS financing solutions are offered to businesses through monthly subscriptions. | |
| dekopay.com | 2008 | London, United Kingdom | – | 48 | Purchase financing is enabled through a B2B2C multi-lender platform. | |
| laybuy.com | 2016 | Auckland, New Zealand | – | – | App-based platform for point of sale financing |
Detailed competitors of DivideBuy
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of DivideBuy
The website of DivideBuy (dividebuy.co.uk) receives about 81.6K visits a month and ranks #373,026 among all websites worldwide, #4,740 in Financial Planning and Management.
- Monthly visits81.6K
▼ 6.2% vs previous month
- Unique visitors35.3K
per month
- Global rank#373,026
among all websites
- Category rank#4,740
Finance · Financial Planning and Management
- Bounce rate38%
- Pages per visit3.2
- Average visit3 min 12 sec
- DevicesDesktop 11% · Mobile 89%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with DivideBuy. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fca.org.uk | 100% | 1.1M | #53,711 | View details | |
| dekopay.com | 74% | 11.4K | #2,289,460 | View details | |
| saladmoney.co.uk | 66% | – | #125,902 | View details | |
worldbusinessoutlook.com | worldbusinessoutlook.com | 60% | – | #406,245 | – |
| paypal.com | 46% | 487.9M | #58 | View details |
Top companies in Alternative Lending
10 companies that operate in the same segment as DivideBuy (Alternative Lending), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Payment acceptance and processing solutions provider for businesses | 2018 | Gurugram, Haryana, India | USD 589.25 M | USD 179.52 M | 3,670 | |
A peer-to-peer marketplace for business loans is operated and developed. | 2010 | London, England, United Kingdom | USD 372.67 M | USD 299.61 M | 860 | |
Diversified loans are provided via an AI-enabled online marketplace. | 2012 | Palo Alto, California, United States | USD 128.65 M | USD 1.04 B | 1,190 | |
Various consumer loans and financial services are offered online. | 2011 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 3.04 B | USD 4.77 B | 6,843 | |
Technology platform for real estate transactions and mortgages is provided. | 2014 | Gurugram, Haryana, India | USD 97.98 M | USD 28.9 M | 9,619 | |
Purchase financing solutions are offered to businesses via installment payments. | 2019 | Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates | USD 837 M | – | 4,683 | |
Financial services are provided, specializing in personal and business loans. | 2016 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | USD 320.39 M | USD 106.45 M | 2,161 | |
Credit score checking and comparison platform for financial products | 2007 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 869.77 M | – | 1,487 | |
Financial benefits platform for on-demand pay is provided to employees. | 2018 | London, England, United Kingdom | USD 133.02 M | – | – | |
Payflow is recognized as a financial wellness application for employees. | 2020 | Alcobendas, Comunidad De Madrid, Spain | USD 58.23 M | – | – |
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Related news about Dividebuy
Complete news archive for DivideBuy
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Frequently Asked Questions about DivideBuy
DivideBuy was founded in 2014.
DivideBuy is headquartered in Newcastle Under Lyme, United Kingdom. It is registered at Newcastle Under Lyme, Staffordshire, United Kingdom.
DivideBuy is a funded company, having raised a total of $89.86M across 8 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $281.8K, raised on Jun 2014.
DivideBuy was established in 2014 as an online financing platform in the consumer credit sector. Interest-free credit options are provided to customers through partnerships with retailers, enabling purchases to be spread across monthly installments for up to 12 months. Operations focus on the UK market, facilitating accessible payment solutions without additional interest charges. Key figures include co-founder Max William Thowless-Reeves and founder Christopher Peter Martin.
DivideBuy offers Interest-Free Credit and Retail Finance Solutions.
DivideBuy has 6 investors. Key investors include Shawbrook Bank, Zopa, Paragon Bank, Davidson Kempner Capital Management, and Jon Moulton.
The valuation of DivideBuy is $83.31M as of Jul 2021.
DivideBuy operates through Zopa Bank Limited.
Yes. DivideBuy was acquired by Zopa in February 2023.