PPLparty Is Short Listed To Receive A Prestigious Regional Award For Up To £5million In Funding

PPLparty.com, the online social networking site for 16 to 24 year old party goers, has been short listed to receive a prestigious regional award to gain £5million worth of funding as part of The Connect Midlands Investment Challenge 2007.

Sponsored by BT, backed by Catapult Venture Managers, East Midlands Early Growth Fund (managed by E-Synergy) and supported by the East Midlands Development Agency (mda) and GINEM, this is one of the regions most recognised entrepreneurial awards. Connect Midlands (a non profit network) has joined forces with Doug Richards, formerly of BBC2 television show Dragons Den, to devise this investment challenge. Following success in 2006 and the receipt hundreds of applicants, the award has risen from £1million to £5million worth of funding for 2007.

To get this far in the award process, Calum Brannan, PPLparty’s creator, has had to endure challenges such as “The Gauntlet” an online virtual investor and Dragon’s Den style presentations in order to be in the running for this fantastic opportunity. Now PPLparty.com short listed down to 20 final hopefuls he is required to provide a 30 minute pitch to a panel of investors. If successful, PPLparty.com will become one of 10 finalists to attend the awards ceremony at Kilworth House Hotel on 10th October, where the winner is to be announced.

Calum Brannan created PPLparty.com when he was just 15 years old, currently still only 18 he already has an online community of 400,000. PPLparty.com’s service offers users an array of features, including colourful profiles, blogs, and unlimited photo uploads. The most recent service to be added is courtesy of a partnership with Doug Richard’s company Hotxt to provide unlimited text messaging to the PPLparty.com community.

Calum Brannan, Founder and Managing Director of PPLparty.com commented:
“Having already been publicly recognised in national media such as The FT, Guardian, Director and Revolution, I’m really pleased that what started out as a bedroom idea has been recognised in such a significant way. It’s been hard work both mentally and physically to get the networking site to such a competitive standard and to continue moving forward I have actively been seeking funding with this being one of several chosen avenues. To get this far in the award process though is really exciting, not only for me, but for the team and all of PPLparty.com’s members”

Calum has also made contacts with leading internet brand Yahoo! and Channel 4’s Popworld. This, with the possibility of having some or all of the funding could potentially give a massive boost to the growth of this network.

For more information please visit www.pplparty.com/.

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Additional Information:
The PPLparty was developed with zero budget in Brannan's bedroom whilst he studied for his GCSEs. When he was ready to launch commercially, he saved up his wages from his part-time job at Pizza Hut and spent £200 on flyers to distribute round his native Coventry. On the back of these flyers and word of mouth alone, PPLparty.com is now one of the biggest online social networks in the UK.

Although just two years old, PPLparty is already a massive UK social networking success story, where over 320,000 party people regularly communicate their life, passions and knowledge. The site is aimed at 18 – 24 year olds but anyone aged over 16 can register.

Founded in 2005 solely by entrepreneur Calum Brannan, PPLparty has a rapidly growing team, which currently has 6 people based across London and the West Midlands. The team is party obsessed, hugely committed and on a mission to create the ultimate social networking story within the online space, both in the UK and internationally.