``Complexity`` is Rationale for Future Web-Based Collaborative Commerce, Asserts HelloBrain CEO Villareal.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Technologic Partners' Enterprise Outlook Conference

BURLINGAME, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 27, 2001

Highly-complex Procurement, Product Development, Manufacture,

Sales or Support Will Reap the Rewards of On-Line Business

Collaboration

Speaking before an assembled audience of venture capitalists, industry analysts, journalists and high-technology executives, HelloBrain CEO Ray Villareal took aim at "collaborative commerce" -- the recently-coined term for Web-enhanced business processes -- saying that current solutions "missed the point." According to Villareal, the real power of collaborative commerce lies not in facilitating processes such as the repetitive purchasing of catalog-type components, but in enabling the real-time development of complex solutions -- throughout the extended enterprise -- that require the constant, interactive, and contextual participation of domain experts at every step.

"Collaborative commerce applications have taken hold where you see high replication business processes such as parts-procurement or supply-chain management," said Villareal. "But consider the challenge, for example, of a jet aircraft manufacturer procuring a new motor. This is a process that takes the active collaboration of hundreds, perhaps even thousands of experts over a substantial period of time. Existing solutions are not designed for what we recognize as 'complex' collaborative commerce."

According to Villareal, complex collaboration can be required at any point in the development, manufacturing, sales, or support of a complex product or service. "It doesn't have to be a jetliner," he said. "It can be the design of a microchip, the sale of a custom-tailored enterprise software package, the support of a manufacturer with a sophisticated manufacturing process -- wherever there is distributed knowledge, multiple stakeholders, unique or non-repetitive transactions, dozens to hundreds of steps, and significant economic consequences."

Founded in 1999, HelloBrain has focused upon building the world's first Internet-based infrastructure to support complex collaborative commerce. HelloBrain's C3 Enterprise infrastructure provides what Villareal calls "deep collaboration" among key employees, customers, suppliers, or outside expert resources. It enables dynamic configurable discovery and evaluation of solutions or solution providers; real-time project management, communications, and contextual information archival and re-use; a test and validation environment; and support for deployment, and feedback. All of these components, said Villareal, are seamlessly integrated in a highly secure fashion that permits both localized and end-to-end process and status visibility.

The infrastructure is built upon the technology used to create HelloBrain's Intellectual Capital Exchange, an on-line marketplace that permits businesses with complex design, development or manufacturing projects to discover and collaborate with technology providers from all over the world. Since its late 1999 introduction, over 700 significant projects, with values up to $500,000 have been posted, with solution providers coming from more than 120 countries.

In 2000, HelloBrain expanded its infrastructure to provide for tailored, company-specific "private" exchanges that enabled project resource matching and collaboration -- particularly in support of developer and user communities -- within a "community of interest." The complete C3 Enterprise infrastructure, which is designed for use throughout an enterprise, both with suppliers and customers, has been HelloBrain's underlying goal. "Almost since the day the Intellectual Capital Exchange was introduced," said Villareal, "our corporate customers have lobbied for a private, controlled, enterprise-wide solution for discovering and managing intellectual capital, preserving solutions and expertise for re-use, and facilitating complex collaboration." Later this year, HelloBrain will introduce several C3 Enterprise solutions based on this customer demand.

About HelloBrain

HelloBrain is the leading provider of complex collaborative commerce solutions that enable enterprises to speed the effective development, procurement, deployment and reuse of complex products and services by leveraging the distributed intellectual capital of employees, business partners, customers, and communities of interest. HelloBrain's C3 Enterprise infrastructure is based upon a pioneering use of its Internet-based exchange mechanism, first introduced with the HelloBrain Intellectual Capital Exchange. The company was named by Computerworld as one of the "Top 100 Emerging Companies to Watch in 2001."

HelloBrain is based in Santa Clara, Calif., and has received $33.5 million in venture capital funding from Accel Partners, Brentwood Venture Capital, Intel 64 Fund, Redpoint Ventures, and Thomas Weisel Partners. HelloBrain can be found on the Web at www.HelloBrain.com.

All trademarks and registered trademarks are those of their respective companies. HelloBrain is a trademark of HelloBrain Corporation.

The text of this release as well as additional background information may be downloaded from our Web site at www.HelloBrain.com