City-based Net venture capitalists netvest.com Plc has pumped £340,000 into five Net companies as part of its first tranche of investments in the Net-related industry. The move comes less than two months after netvest.com floated its business on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Online price comparison service, shopgenie.com, is among the clutch of companies to benefit from the cash injection of £150,000. Netvest.com also paid £50,000 for a stake in Powernet, an independent reseller of free phone numbers in the UK. "These investments are in line with our stated strategy of enabling individuals who want to buy into emerging technologies to spread their risk by investing in a range of companies," said Chairman Andrew Balcombe. "We have invested in an Internet price comparison system, a telecom carrier/ISP, an Internet authentication software and hardware developer and an online music, entertainment and media group. "This is a broad range of companies but all of them have a sound proposition, a unique market position in each of their areas and exciting potential for future growth," he said. So how can fledgling companies contact netvest.com to see if this investor wants a slice of their action? It's anyone's guess -- they don't even have their own Web site up and running yet. ® Why not dangle your financial toes in Cash Register -- got to be better than a kick in the teeth