Carphone Warehouse gets into dotcom DIY

The Carphone Warehouse has invested £2 million in "home improvement" (read:DIY) site HomePro.com, boosting its holding from 9 to 16 per cent. This is
HomePro's third round of funding since its creation a year ago. The site matches house owners with professional contractors. Carphone Warehouse's
interest stems from its mobile portal Mviva. It plans to put HomePro content over phones so "people on the move" can search for contractor information

Dutch publisher VNU has said it is spending E125 million ($112 million) this year on developing Internet based businesses, up from the E75 million it had previously budgeted. It expects them to break even within two years.

Chairman Rob van den Bergh said VNU expects to generate revenues of E60 million this year from Internet businesses, excluding its existing online businesses such as databases.

Waterford Wedgwood is setting up an e-commerce site to sell its crystal, ceramics and cookware products. It is not working with any partners on this online venture but believes the investment required will not be material. It is banking on selling higher margins for the business, and spending little on advertising because of the strength of its name.

US online travel site Travelocity.com has said it has enough cash to last until it turns a profit in late 2001, and will not need to get extra funding.

According to Reuters Travelocity lost $11 million in the quarter ending June 30, and combined with capital expenditures in burned $15 million

E*Trade is buying PrivateAccounts.com, an online money manager. It is going to offer this as a service to affluent consumers who have a minimum of $100,000 to invest. ®

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