Start-up finds funding despite venture capital drought

NEWS London-based 7M, which sells software that web enables applications for ASPs, has gained the funding from a group of investors including 3i, Holland Venture and Telenor Ventures, the venture capital wing of the Norwegian telco Telenor. 7M's funding comes at a time when the venture capital well has dried up for many start-ups. The ASP model particularly has come under increasing scrutiny in the last few months after failing to live up to sky-high growth projections. Jim Simpson, who joins 7M from the board of financial software firm Systems Union Group, said: "We've raised a reasonable amount of money at a time when no-one else is getting anything. We've done this by being very focused on our business and by taking tight control of our costs." 7M aims to bring in £10m in revenue over the next year and plans to be cash-flow positive by 2002.