TheStreet.co.uk today became the latest financial website to launch in Britain, hoping to capitalise on the growing enthusiasm for investing through the internet.

TheStreet.co.uk joins an increasingly crowded field of financial sites such as the brash Motley Fool site and more established players like ft.com, the web operation of the Financial Times, which relaunched this week.

With 20 financial journalists, TheStreet.co.uk claims to have one of the largest dedicated online editorial teams in Britain. The team includes four former city editors of UK papers. The site will provide investors with up to the minute comment and analysis of breaking financial news. It has gained the backing of major portals such as AOL UK, Compuserve and Lycos, which have signed content syndication deals with the new venture.

The prototype for TheStreet.co.uk is the TheStreet.com in the US. TheStreet.com has established itself as a popular destination for small American investors thanks partly to the frequent appearances on TV of James Cramer, its opinionated commentator. The UK arm is backed by Chase capital partners, Barclays private equity, 3i, ETF group and Intel, the chip maker.