Andrew Michael (entrepreneur)

Andrew Michael
Born (1980-01-10) 10 January 1980
Cyprus
Residence London, England
Occupation British tech entrepreneur
Home town Cheltenham, England

Andrew Michael (born 10 January 1980) is a British tech entrepreneur and founder of Fasthosts, Livedrive and Bark.com.

Early life and Fasthosts

Andrew Michael was born in Cyprus ,[1] and grew up in Charlton Kings, near Cheltenham, United Kingdom.[2] Aged 17, and as part of an A-level project, Michael started web hosting company, Fasthosts.[3] In 2002, Fasthosts was listed in the Sunday Times as one of the fastest growing technology companies in the UK, and by 2005 reported a turnover of £20m and a profit of £5m.[4] In 2006 the company was sold to German internet company United Internet for a reported £61m, with Michael owning a 75% share in the company.[5][6]

Livedrive

In 2008, Michael founded UK-based cloud storage and cloud backup company Livedrive, which offered customers unlimited online storage.[7] Nicholas Cowell was also an investor in the company.[8][9] In 2009, only three months after the company launched, Michael turned down an offer of £100m for the business,[10] and in late 2009 he launched the company in the US.[11]

In 2014 Michael sold Livedrive to J2 Global.[12]

Bark.com

In 2014 Andrew co-founded Bark.com with Kai Feller. The company enables customers to easily contact local service professionals,[13] avoiding the need to make multiple calls. In March 2015 Nick Hewer signed on as brand ambassador.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Internet entrepreneur celebrates £61m deal". The Independent. 2009-05-11. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  2. ↑ "Internet whizz Andrew is at it again". Gloucester Citizen. 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  3. ↑ "Internet entrepreneur celebrates £61m deal". The Independent. 2009-05-11. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  4. ↑ "Young entrepreneur pockets £61.5m". BBC News. 2006-05-12. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  5. ↑ "Schoolboy project sells for £61m". This is Money. 2006-05-12. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  6. ↑ "Made it by 40". The Telegraph. 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  7. ↑ "Livedrive.com offers unlimited online storage". TechRadar. 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  8. ↑ "Simon Cowell backs up his bro". The Sun. 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  9. ↑ "Another Cowell with the X-Factor". Express. 2010-01-03. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  10. ↑ "Credit crunch, what credit crunch? Website whizzkid, 29, turns down £100m for firm he set up three months ago". Daily Mail. 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  11. ↑ "Livedrive launches unlimited backup service in the U.S.". Venture Beat. 2009-10-26. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  12. ↑ "j2 Global Acquires LiveDrive; j2’s Online Backup Annualized Monthly Run-Rate Exceeds $40M". YAHOO! Finance. 2014-02-10. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  13. ↑ "Bark.com - Bringing you the best leads for your business". www.bark.com. Retrieved 2015-06-02.
  14. ↑ "Nick Hewer teams up with Bark | Bark Blog". www.bark.com. Retrieved 2015-06-02.
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