E-commerce group eShopWorld on the hunt for fintechs
Irish e-commerce company eShopWorld is on the hunt for bolt-on acquisitions, focusing on early-stage businesses or post start-ups in the fintech and machine-learning areas, according to The Independent.
“Ideally, we are looking for innovative businesses in the fintech, e-commerce and data intelligence spaces that can complement and accelerate our growth strategy,” said chief executive, Tommy Kelly.
“It also offers an opportunity to grow our talent base by adding entrepreneurial, growth-focused teams that would be a good cultural fit with our existing colleagues across the group.” 
The company, which is headquartered in Dublin, recently announced a 26.7% increase in revenue to €407 million and outlined plans to more than double revenue to $1 billion.
The business aims to make cross-border online shopping seamless for consumers.
It also plans to increase global headcount to more than 450 people and continue to expand the range and scope of services to growing premium brands.
Kelly told news outlets last week about the impact of Brexit on its growth aspirations and on online shopping, stating that eShopWorld is substantially insulated from Brexit as the UK accounts for less than 10% of outbound turnover.
“It also makes it easier for UK brands to tap into global demand, at a time when the retail environment in the UK has been particularly challenging,” adds Kelly.
He expects more high-end UK and global brands to adopt its e-commerce products because they remove customer issues such as currency conversion and tax factors that may arise post-Brexit.
