International business media company Ecountries faces closure unless it finds additional funding over the next few days.
Ecountries provides news and analysis and acts as a marketplace for accredited suppliers of professional services to businesses working internationally.
Paul Vickery, a director in the ebusiness team at 3i, one of Ecountries leading backers, said it had been hit by “extremely challenging” trading conditions for internet companies, the Financial Times reports.
“It is distressing to see any company fail, but unless they receive funding in the next few days the business will be unviable,” he told the newspaper.
Ecountries has a staff of 50 in London, Dublin, New York and Hong Kong has been trying to raise to raise financing for some time.
On Wednesday, staff were told that the firm would continue to try to raise funding but they should look for alternative employment.
The company secured £4.7m in its first round of financing in April 2000 and was believed to have raised a further $3m late last year from backers including 3i, Elderstreet and Pi Capital, which provided the first round capital.
Donal Smith and Jonathan Schmidt, both former executives of the Financial Times Group, founded Ecountries last year.
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