Martha Lane Fox makes cyber comeback

Dotcom poster-girl Martha Lane Fox has resurfaced in cyberspace, teaming up with her Lastminute.com co-founder Brent Hoberman to launch a new internet venture. The duo, who made millions from their travel website, now plan to cash in on the home decorating boom. Mydeco.com, which launches today, has linked up with designers including Sir Terence Conran, Phillippe Starck and Jade Jagger and will offer products from more than 500 retailers.

Hoberman and Lane Fox, who made around £26m and £14m respectively through the sale of Lastminute in 2005, hope to grab a lucrative slice of Britain's £14bn interior design market. Hoberman will be the new group's executive chairman while Lane Fox will be a non-executive director, popping into the office once a week. Lastminute's former chief operating officer, David Kelly, is chief executive. More than £5m of funding has been raised from private shareholders, including the Rothschild family, Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom and Marc Worth, founder of fashion industry website WGSN.

The venture marks another step on Lane Fox's slow but steady return to business after she was nearly killed in a car accident in Morocco in 2004. Lane Fox spent seven months in hospital recovering from the crash, which left her with a shattered pelvis, 28 broken bones and serious internal bleeding. In 2005 Lane Fox, who also sits on the board of Marks and Spencer, was back in business, launching a chain of upmarket karaoke bars. Hoberman, who has remained close friends with Lane Fox since they started Lastminute in 1998, is an 'angel investor' in the Lucky Voice chain.