← Embedded Finance Index 2026

OnBuy

“Can a UK-anchored, seller-friendly marketplace differentiate on cashback and embedded seller finance to carve share from Amazon and eBay in Europe?”

Founded2016
HQBournemouth, United Kingdom
FoundersCas Paton
Total raised$50-100M
Latest roundSeries A+, £35M
Valuation$100-250M (2021)
IndustryMarketplace / Two-sided

The story

Founded 2016 in Bournemouth as a fair-terms alternative UK marketplace to Amazon/eBay, growing on a promise never to compete with its own sellers. In 2022-2023 OnBuy re-platformed its payments stack, moving from a Stripe/PayPal setup to Nuvei for Platforms and becoming merchant of record — this unlocked Klarna BNPL, direct seller payouts via WorldFirst/Payoneer, and YouLend embedded seller finance. Now positioning around consumer 'Instant Cashback' as its differentiator while continuing to layer marketplace-embedded finance for sellers.

Last 12 months

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Product timeline

2016

OnBuy founded in Bournemouth by Cas Paton as a UK online marketplace· launch

2021

£35M Series A+ round led by Fuel Ventures at $100-250M valuation· funding

2022

Integrated Nuvei for Platforms, becoming merchant of record and replacing Stripe/PayPal-only checkout· payments

2023

Launched direct payments with WorldFirst and Payoneer seller payouts, removing PayPal dependency· payments

2023

Launched Klarna BNPL (Pay Now, Pay in 30, Pay in 3) across the marketplace· lending

2023

Partnered with YouLend for embedded seller finance (£3K-£1M)· lending

2024

Launched Instant Cashback rewards program as core consumer differentiator· loyalty

The stack

3 layers disclosed in OnBuy’s embedded-finance stack

Payments / PSP

Nuvei for Platforms

Lending

in the full report

FX & payouts

in the full report

Accounting gap: minor

9 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.