Andrew Michael (businessman)

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

Andrew Michael
Born (1980-01-10) 10 January 1980
Cyprus
Occupationentrepreneur

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]

Livedrive

In 2008, Michael founded UK-based cloud storage and cloud backup company Livedrive, which offered customers unlimited online storage.[6] Nicholas Cowell was also an investor in the company.[7] In late 2009 he launched the company in the US.[8]

In 2014 Michael sold Livedrive to J2 Global.[9]

Bark.com

In 2014 Andrew co-founded Bark.com with Kai Feller. The company enables customers to easily contact local service professionals,[10] avoiding the need to make multiple calls. In March 2015 Nick Hewer signed on as brand ambassador.[11]

References
  1. "Internet entrepreneur celebrates £61m deal". The Independent. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  2. "Internet whizz Andrew is at it again". Gloucester Citizen. 5 May 2009. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  3. "Internet entrepreneur celebrates £61m deal". The Independent. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  4. "Young entrepreneur pockets £61.5m". BBC News. 12 May 2006. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  5. "Made it by 40". The Telegraph. 6 December 2006. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  6. "Livedrive.com offers unlimited online storage". TechRadar. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  7. "Another Cowell with the X-Factor". Express. 3 January 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  8. "Livedrive launches unlimited backup service in the U.S." Venture Beat. 26 October 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  9. "j2 Global Acquires LiveDrive; j2's Online Backup Annualized Monthly Run-Rate Exceeds $40M". YAHOO! Finance. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  10. "Bark.com - Bringing you the best leads for your business". www.bark.com. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  11. "Nick Hewer teams up with Bark | Bark Blog". www.bark.com. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
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