It’s been a positive few months for Buytopia.ca, the Canadian daily deal site.
Earlier this month the Toronto-based company was recognized at the third spot on the Profit Magazine Profit Hot 50 ranking. Adding to a busy summer, cofounders Ryan Marien, Michele Romanow & Anatoliy Melnichuk were also named finalists for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, honouring Canada’s leading entrepreneurs. Award finalists are based on their vision, leadership, financial success and contributions to social responsibility.
“It’s a thrill to be recognized by some of the most respected institutions in the country,” said Marien. “Our vision is to make Buytopia.ca the top destination for incredible offers in Canada and we couldn’t have come this far, this fast without the support of our customers, business partners and our Buytopia team.”
Buytopia offers its massive pool of users daily deals on restaurants, spas, activities, events and hotels at a fraction of the face value. With a two-year revenue growth of 6,426 percent the company was able to land in the Profit Hot 50 top five with other companies like Chango Inc., a digital advertising buying platform and Pure Energies Group, Inc., which installs home solar-power systems.
1,179 jobs were created by the Hot 50 firms from 2010 to 2012. The rankings are based on revenue growth percent.
Buytopia was founded in late 2010 as a startup, and was the first site based in Canada to run a national daily deal promotion with a major retailer in Sears Canada.
Just a few months after landing the Sears partnership, well-known daily deal site Groupon was experiencing the first of its well-publicized struggles. Buytopia, meanwhile, was growing fast. It landed another large partnership in late 2011 for weeklong promotions with Staples, largely due to its email marketing savvy that could hit social media channels.
Earlier this year the company continued its rapid-fire growth when it acquired six different competing startups. The impressive buying spree resulted in the take-over of PriceDodger.com, Bargoonz.com, GoBabu.com, IndulgeLiving.com, GaggleUp.com and Dealivery.com.
Then Melnichuk said that its subscriber base of over two million users would be the winners of the acquisitions. “Buytopia has grown organically without raising capital—this has forced us to be nimble and to work harder. Being the only profitable daily deal website put us in a unique position; we acquired respected industry counterparts to expand our Canadian reach.”
Today’s news regarding the company’s recent recognition indicates that Buytopia isn’t slowing down in a market that hasn’t necessarily been kind to its suitors. It may not be Canada’s first billion-dollar company, but it certainly could grow to be one of the nation’s enviable businesses that once began as a startup.