Mykindaplace in bid to buy Wowgo
The BSkyB and Freeserve-backed teen site Mykindaplace.com has approached the backers of the troubled Wowgo site with a view to “salvaging” the start-up site, which was put up for sale after it ceased trading last week (MW November 16).
Founder and commercial and marketing director of Mykindaplace Charlie Redmayne has begun negotiations with Wowgo investors Unilever, specialist investment bank Durlacher and e-incubator Eureka Interactive Fund.
Wowgo, which is aimed at 12to 17-year-old girls, was unable to raise further finance. Redmayne says: “We are currently talking to Wowgo’s investors about salvaging or consolidating the business.”
But he refuses to give details of the discussions saying they are still at a sensitive stage.
A spokesman for Unilever declined to comment on the negotiations, but pointed out that the teenage-girl market was still of great interest to the company, and that it was investigating other opportunities within the field.
The Wowgo site suffered serious technical problems just after its launch in June and was still not Mac-friendly when trading ceased.
Redmayne says companies such as Unilever have a lot to gain from being involved in such websites. “There is an awful lot of information you can get about teens by using a Net database,” he says. “If done correctly, websites such as these can be valuable tools.”
