Member Article

British technology company launches non-profit to help get more people into e-commerce

On a sunny afternoon during April 2021 a new company was born, registered in London by entrepreneurs Terry McGinnis and Siraaj Ahmed it set out to do the unimaginable, to set an ethical standard in the world of e-commerce. A field dominated by conglomerate giants traded on stock exchanges such as Amazon and The Hut Group.

An impossible feat to many but the business gained traction via it’s seperation from the standard practices employed by many and had become Britain’s own marketplace juggernaut, making Harrogate, a small town in Yorkshire as it’s base of operations in the aptly named ‘The Matrix’ region. With support from Harrogate’s very own Robin Vauvelle, the founder of another British based giant, White Horse Machinery, it enjoyed a new warehouse and had seen itself be compared to Amazon more each day.

Less than a year later both founders had experienced significant fatigue and saw their company become more and more like the competition and had decided to pay back all of their investors who had poured money in to help the company flourish, to close all marketplace operations and pivot into opposite direction.

Lauded by international press outlets such as Mashable, Flaunt and Israel’s own Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the bold move had inspired many business owners and entrepreneurs alike who had felt such a risky pivot in the face of success was more to send a message than to focus on monetary gain.

Now over a year later since the decision was made to close down all operations, the business is looking to make a major come back from it’s new headquarters in New York’s Manhattan Park Avenue area which is home to American Airlines, Council on Foreign Relations, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and now Online Shop Inc.

One of it’s founders, Terry McGinnis, the acting Chief Executive Officer had also taken upon himself and his other business partner and founder, Siraaj Ahmed, the acting Chief Technology Officer to incorporate a non-profit in Britain called ‘Equality’ to add to his list of altruistic endeavours, which include ambassadorship for the likes of Sea Legacy, Only One and being a member of International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The new non-profit calls for better standards in e-commerce, more opportunities and creation of an independent body to lead the way in more ethical and empathetic practices as set out in it’s mission statement, in the same location of Harrogate, The Matrix where the main company had enjoyed it’s first growth spur.

When contacted, the company’s Chief Technology Officer and a trustee in the charity, Siraaj Ahmed provided insight into the overall mission of both their company and the charity.

I think both myself and Terry are very empathetic and caring; we always try to find reasonable solutions, even in the most adverse conditions, even with those that might not necessarily have good intentions either, as is in society. I think we’re experienced and knowledgeable enough to bring our ideals into fruition. This was always the goal, we want to show everyone on the global scale that being ethical, empathetic and understanding - not driven by emotion, is possible. We want to set a precedent, this is why it was important for us to form the Equality initiative, to support our overall efforts away from our corporation, who is a for profit entity. We aim to make commerce as accessible and as affordable as possible, and it starts at the grassroots level.

Whilst the main company has still to launch and only a landing page sits on their website. their non-profit has already launched and is gaining ground, prompting more businesses who had previously enjoyed significant success without much of giving back to do more and give back to the community.

Their new company is aiming to allow anyone to have access to affordable tools to launch their own businesses online at the most affordable prices, while exploring integrations with artificial intelligence and machine learning to ease the life of users. During their hiatus period the company had been advising and supporting online businesses and helping them create new career opportunities and reinvigorate local communities through physical presence on the high street.

As technology evolves faster than many can keep up, and many experiencing lay offs from other technology conglomerates, many of the ex-employees are looking at companies that had started their roots with altruistic intent and continue to promote such ideals as the new future of both business and technology such as Online Shop Inc. One’s that avoid centralisation of power but instead fragment themselves and focus on local communities at a global scale through caring and supportive initiatives.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Joanna Gierhart .