Few companies would turn down the attentions of Goldman Sachs and NewMedia Spark when they are looking for their first round of funding, not least if the business is unproven. But Michael Hecht, founder and chief executive of Currency Network, has done just that.

He is trying to set up the first information portal for foreign exchange dealers. He has won support from one of Canada's richest individuals, together with a handful of other individuals, and is set to go live with what he believes is the first aggregated source of market information for FX dealers.