Leading international tech and marketing business MVF has acquired the UK’s largest website for small businesses and entrepreneurs, Startups.co.uk. The acquisition of the London-based publisher, for just under £1m, is set to be the first of many digital brand purchases intended to accelerate MVF’s growing business.

Startups is the UK’s largest resource for small businesses and entrepreneurs, with a readership of 4.8 million last year. Startups also hosts events for entrepreneurs including the Startups Awards, Startups 100 and Young Guns, through its ‘Growing Business’ brand.

The Startups team will be joining over 300 people at MVF’s North London offices. CEO of MVF Titus Sharpe says, “We are delighted to welcome the Startups team to the business. There is a real sense of excitement between Startups and MVF – they are a really dynamic team who have the same drive and ambition as MVF, and one of the MVF founders was a ‘Young Gun’ back in 2011.”

“We hope that we can build on their success and that with our marketing expertise we can grow its already substantial reach.”

Editorial director at Startups.co.uk, Ian Wallis, adds, “The acquisition is a major endorsement of everything the Startups team has worked so tirelessly to achieve. We’re thrilled to have joined such an ambitious and well-run company and determined to build on our mission of providing unrivalled content and services for nascent entrepreneurs and established businesses alike.”

Wallis continues, “It seems entirely apt that just five years ago MVF was ranked in the top five of the Startups 100, our index of early-stage businesses on enviable growth trajectories – and now we’ll have the chance to contribute to the company’s success.”

MVF has established brands across B2B and B2C sectors, using informative content, proprietary tech and cross-channel marketing to help customers make smart purchasing decisions, while driving sales for leading corporations.