The Sw7 Showcase profiles the emerging technology business that we believe will go big, or make a significant impact in the market. In our first showcase, we are going to look at the Build product from Craig McLeod.
What it is
Build is a website building platform along the line of Wix and SquareSpace. It allows you to build, edit, customise and deploy a website in a matter of minutes. The site can then be extended to include an online store, that gets you up a trading very quickly, with a payment gateway, very much along the lines of Shopify. The sector is not a new one, and the valuations of all of the business we have mentioned show this is a great, albeit strongly contested, sector.
Why Build?
There are a number of factors that set Build apart, but the main differentiator is that it does what the brochure promises. It allows you to get your own site up in a matter of minutes, with the content, look and feel that you want. It offers full editing and CMS capabilities, including adding and reordering pages. It offers more templates than any other product on the market, and the instantly available store offers an ease that is hard to beat.
The sites it renders are available to all devices, in the right format. A strong differentiator is the fact that it offers a one-stop shop, you get your website and e-store up in the same platform, very quickly, in a truly self service environment.
Tech stack
Build is built in C# and hosted on Microsoft Azure. The platform is available globally through the Azure datacentres and is ready to scale.
What is the Secret Sauce?
The single key factor that sets Build apart is that it is really easy to use. In emerging markets, this point cannot be overstressed. Ease is the difference between having a business or not. In the more developed, time poor, ADD Western markets, the ease and offer of a one-stop-shop is likely to give the incumbents a good run for their money.
Keith Jones, co-founder of Sw7, says: “We have been working with Craig for a few months now and have been impressed with both his business and technical understanding of the market he is addressing. Now the product is available, we are working hard to create the quick scale opportunities that will get the product into the global market as a strong contender. It has all of the ingredients to disrupt the sector. Watch this space.”
Craig McLeod, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Build, says: “The product has been a long time coming. I spent years as a template builder and making the whole process easier has been a goal of mine for a long time. Build is the culmination of ten years of thinking and reflection and two years of building. Our early market tests saw us get over ten thousand active customers. We are very excited by where we are right now, and the road ahead.”
Build was launched in December 2014, and through organic growth has secured over 28,000 customers. Craig came through the Sw7 programme in late 2014 and was sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark.
