Venture capitalists have made record profits on their investment in Skype, the Luxembourg-based internet telephone group bought by eBay, the US online auction company, for $4.1bn (€3.3bn) last week.

Bill Draper, a partner at Draper Richards, the San Francisco-based venture firm, told Financial News last week: "This was the best return I've ever had." Draper and his partner Howard Hartenbaum were the first outside investors in Skype and personally invested about $250,000 in 2002 for a 5% stake. The report said Skype was then valued at less than $2m, giving them nearly a thousandfold return.