Queercompany attracts GBP3.5 million

Smedvig Capital in September provided GBP3.5 million in venture funding to Queercompany, an e-commerce based Internet portal targeting the gay and lesbian markets across Europe. The company says the round ranks as the largest sum invested to date in a gay- or lesbian-focused venture in Europe.

Queercompany is not the first firm to have identified the market opportunity created by the failure of mainstream financial services providers to offer products tailored to the needs of the homosexual community Massow Financial Services, backed by Catalyst Fund Research & Management, is also targeting that market segment in the UK. However, as well as offering a range of on and offline financial products and services, Queercompany will also provide travel products, car hire and comprehensive lifestyle’ editorial through its website.

Co-founded this April by Dominic Richards, founder of the English Teddy Bear Company, and Henrietta Morrison, founding director of the Arberry Pink publishing concern, London-based Queercompany is poised to launch its Internet offering this autumn.