Brent Hoberman, co-founder of Lastminute.com, is one of a number of dotcom luminaries who have invested a total of $11m in a fast-growing website aiming to be the MySpace of the travel business, reports The Sunday Times.

Published: 26 Nov 2006

Brent Hoberman, co-founder of Lastminute.com, is one of a number of dotcom luminaries who have invested a total of $11m in a fast-growing website aiming to be the MySpace of the travel business, reports The Sunday Times.

According to the report, Hoberman will become non-executive chairman of the already profitable WAYN.com — the initials stand for where are you now? — when he steps down as chairman of Lastminute at the end of the year.

As per the information available, Esprit Capital Partners, a firm formed from the recent merger of Cazenove Private Equity and Prelude Ventures, has put up most of the investment funding for WAYN. Others investing with Hoberman include David Soskin and Hugo Burge of Cheapflights; Adrian Critchlow and Andy Phillips of Active Hotels and Constant Tedder of Jagex, an online games company.

The company on its site says: “WAYN helps you to keep track of all your contacts from around the world and make new friends based on where you are now, where you have been and where or are going! Join WAYN's vibrant community and discover how easy it is for you to keep in touch, meet people from around the world and keep your friends and family informed of your whereabouts movements and activities.”

Pete Ward, one of three friends who founded the firm, reportedly said the number of users had since grown from fewer than 50,000 to 7m, with 650,000 more registering last month. “We are looking to be the next MySpace or You Tube but in the travel sector,” said Ward. “The possibilities are endless. This time next year, it’s going to be very interesting to see where we are because of the growth.”