Richard co-founded the mobile social network in 2006. The former Dragon raised £9.2m in seed investment, but when the second round of funding failed to materialise, he took drastic action.

Tudor Ventures, a hedge fund, was due to invest $5m in the business, but withdrew the offer as the credit crunch took hold. The funding gap has left the firm vulnerable to acquisitions and a sale may be on the cards.

Richard is eager to keep the show on road since launching Trutap’s latest software application, which aggregates social networks on mobile phones, last month. With user figures on the increase, the founder remains confident of the firm’s future.

To stop the business from going under, Richard has cut 24 jobs at the firm. A source from within Trutap has told TechCrunch that the company is “cutting back and aiming to keep the service running with a skeleton staff to reduce the burn and keep the service live.”

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