Phelan is helping wishli.st come true
Nov 20 2008 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal
ONE of the world’s most successful dotcom entrepreneurs is backing a fledgling North East firm which aims to help punters beat the credit crunch this Christmas.
Sean Phelan, whose online mapping tool Multimap.com was sold to Microsoft for £24.4m last year, has invested in a new internet business based in Northumberland.
Wishli.st allows people to make a Christmas list of presents they would like to receive which can be accessed online by friends and family, who can then buy or put towards items.
The website is the brainchild of 21-year-old student David Haywood Smith, from Whitley Chapel, who will be mentored by Mr Phelan to help him build what he believes can become a global internet business.
Mr Phelan led a seed round of funding earlier this year in which he contributed a significant portion of the £25,000 start-up investment. He now advises Mr Haywood Smith on a regular basis as the firm looks to initially cash in on the UK’s growing online retail sector which is expected to be worth £13.16bn in the final quarter of this year alone.
Mr Phelan said: “Wishli.st is a simple but compelling online service, created by a talented young entrepreneur. I’m delighted to be able to contribute to its creation and growth.”
Mr Haywood Smith met Mr Phelan at a party and went on to spend last summer working for Multimap after he told the millionaire about his business idea.
The young entrepreneur said: “Sean is there as an adviser to me and he may be appointed as a director in due course. We talk every couple of weeks and I think the business could have global scope but we want to crack the UK first. The credit crunch has changed people’s attitudes to buying presents. Wishli.st is the perfect way to make sure you are buying great presents and not wasting your money.
“Our system of chipping in, which we call collaborative micro-payments, is perfect for people who would prefer to contribute towards an expensive present rather than buying it outright.”
The North East entrepreneur has put his studies for a degree in Neuroscience at Manchester University on hold to run the business full time – a move which he believes puts him in good company.
He said: “One of the founders of Google is currently interrupting his PHD at Stamford and they are still waiting for him to return.”
