Brent Hoberman wins backing of Groupon investor for interiors site

Brent Hoberman has attracted investment from the German backer of Groupon and Angie's List for his online home furnishings website in a move which values the business at more than £35m.

Mr Hoberman, one of the co-founders of Lastminute.com, has received the backing from eVenture Capital Partners for mydeco.com, the site he launched in 2007.

The investment is the third fundraising by mydeco's parent company, By Design (UK). Investors supporting previous fundraisings include Burda of Germany and the Rothschild family.

eVenture's European fund is backed in part by anchor investor Otto Group, the German catalogue retailer. Its American fund has investments in start-ups including Groupon, the group purchasing site which has just delayed its US initial public offering.

While the value of eVenture's investment in mydeco is not known, it is sufficient to secure the group a seat on mydeco's board.

Mydeco is an aggregation site which allows users to browse items, such as furniture or wallpaper, being sold by other retailers and provides 3D imaging software to enable users to see how they would look in their homes.

Source : James Quinn – Sunday Telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/8754709/Brent-Hoberman-wins-backing-of-Groupon-investor-for-interiors-site.html