SPARK Venture's backed Mydeco secures £7.35m second round funding
SPARK Ventures, the leading quoted early-stage venture capital investors, announced today that mydeco.com, the online intermediary for the home design market, has secured second round funding of £7.35m from some of Europe’s leading venture capital firms. SPARK Ventures led the seed funding for mydeco in 2007 and remains a significant shareholder in the business. The latest funding takes mydeco’s total funding to date to more than £12.5 million.
The latest funding, which will be used to finance the international launch of mydeco, was led by Sofinnova Partners and included investments from SRPE, Amadeus Capital Partners and Burda Cross Media.
Brent Hoberman, mydeco’s Executive Chairman commented: "We are delighted to have attracted a top quality investor group in which each individual firm brings real strategic value to the business and whose mix of nationalities reflects our own international ambitions. The closure of this latest financing round validates our achievements to date and will support the full commercial launch of the business later this year."
Tom Teichman, SPARK Ventures’ Chairman, who also sits on the Board of mydeco, commented: “mydeco is a prime example of the sort of company that SPARK looks to back. It is in a market segment that continues to experience huge growth, both in the UK and internationally, and boasts a world-class management team with both the experience and ambition to build a global business. It has grown strongly over the past year and has already established a strong market position. To have attracted funding from some of Europe’s leading venture capital investors is a clear endorsement of the business and its future prospects.”
mydeco aims to become the leading marketplace for consumers and suppliers of home design and furnishing, a sector estimated to represent over $200 billion of annual spending in the US and Europe but whose online potential has been barely tapped. The company’s innovative technology revolutionises the shopping experience for consumers, allowing them to browse, compare and buy products from hundreds of top quality and specialist retailers. Since beta launch in the UK in February 2008 the site has attracted over 1.5 million visitors.