Enter the dragon: Meyer gives helping hand to WorldFriends

Julie Meyer, star of the online version of Dragons' Den, is advising WorldFriends, the social network site that is a big hit in Asia, on its push into Europe.

Ariadne Capital, the investment and advisory firm run by Ms Meyer, is raising €1.5m to set up a London office for WorldFriends this autumn.

The UK team will look to secure distribution deals, such as partnerships with media sites. These sites would have a link to WorldFriends, which has 2m registered users in 237 countries. Ms Meyer is also raising a £20m fund called Ariadne Capital Entrepreneurs. The fund, which should be raised by early autumn, will seek to invest £500,000 to £1m in start-ups.