channelnewsasia.com - August 2, 2000 - Local start-up HardwareZone.com has attracted S$1.5m investment from angel investors who see great potential in this already popular IT portal.

Angel investors are individuals who plough money into Internet start-ups with viable business models.

Venture capitalist SIS Netechpreneur and 20 angel investors, who call themselves Savoury Associates, are pumping in the funds into Hardwarezone.com.

Zacchaeus Boon is one of them.

He has put in $100,000 into Hardwarezone.com.

Zacchaeus Boon said:"I think for any investment, the singular factor is the people. The team running Hardwarezone.com today is very dynamic, young and driven. That gives them a very strong fighting chance in the market."

The big break for Hardwarezone.com's founder Jackie Lee started as a hobby site, offering product price lists and reviews.

But the hobby started making money, so he took a year's leave from NUS' engineering school to go full steam ahead.

Jackie Lee said:"The reason why I took academic leave is because the degree is always there for me to take it, but if I miss this window of opportunity, it will just pass me by and not come back again."

On the S$1.5m fund, Jackie Lee said: "It has risen my company to a new level to do bigger things. For example, we've been into strategic liaison with a few companies that take care of logistics and e-cataloguing. Without these fundings, we cannot do things that are of this level."

A third of the money will help Hardwarezone.com go regional.

The other third is for getting new talent.