Adero, Inc. Secures Additional $25 Million in Financing; Spectrum Equity, Fidelity Ventures, M/C Venture Partners and Osborn Capital Participate.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 1999--

Adero, Inc., a global provider of high-quality Internet content and application distribution services, today announced that it has raised $25 million in second-round funding to finance its next stage of growth. Spectrum Equity, a leading Boston and Palo-Alto-based venture capital firm, Fidelity Ventures, the venture capital arm of Fidelity Investments, and two private venture capital firms, M/C Venture Partners and Osborn Capital made the investment. Proceeds received from this financing will be primarily used to further Adero's efforts in enabling the global deployment of its intelligent platform for the delivery of Web services.

"Adero is focused on developing global e-commerce and application solutions which will address the needs of companies looking to conduct business on the Web," said Jonathan Crane, CEO of Adero. "We're committed to providing Adero with the financial resources to make the Company a top global e-Commerce service provider. This significant amount of second round funding further legitimizes our efforts in providing a global turnkey service that enables companies to create a quick and reliable Internet experience for customers."

Spectrum Equity, which manages equity funds totaling $1 billion in capital, joins Adero's first-round funding partners, Fidelity Ventures, M/C Venture Partners and Osborn Capital. Fidelity Ventures, which has been involved in venture capital investments for more than 30 years, was involved in Adero's first-round funding, as was M/C Venture Partners, one of the most active private equity investors in the telecommunications industry and Osborn Capital, which focuses on emerging Internet-related companies.

About Adero, Inc.

Founded in 1998, Adero provides a global turnkey service that enables companies to create a rapid, consistent, and reliable Internet experience for online customers anywhere in the world. AderoWorld(TM) Service is a cost-effective solution for global e-Commerce companies, enabling rapid deployment of Web content, distributed applications and e-Commerce services, through the strategic placement of intelligent nodes in local markets around the world. Adero's network of intelligent nodes and patent-pending GeoTraffic(TM) Manager technology allow companies to overcome the complexities of building and managing infrastructures in foreign markets, as well as allow companies to reap the benefits of improved Web site performance and custom-tailored content. AderoWorld Service has 28 intelligent nodes in 23 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Adero, Inc., is a venture-funded company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, USA - www.adero.com.

About Fidelity Ventures

Fidelity Ventures is the venture capital arm of Fidelity Investments, the nation's largest mutual fund company. Fidelity Ventures has actively invested in early-stage companies for more than 30 years, and many Fidelity Ventures-backed companies have gone on to become or have been acquired by industry leaders including: MCI (now Worldcom (Nasdaq: WCOM)), Continental Cablevision (now MediaOne [NYSE: UMG]), Teleport (now part of AT&T (NYSE:T)), Nextel (Nasdaq:NXTL), GeoTel (now part of Cisco [Nasdaq:CSCO)), Nexabit Networks (now part of Lucent (NYSE: LU)), COLT (Nasdaq:COLT), and InterNAP (Nasdaq: INAP). In the last five years, Fidelity has invested over $300M of its own capital in emerging companies in the software, networking and telecommunications industries. Fidelity Ventures has offices in Boston and Hong Kong, and can be contacted at www.fidelityventures.com.

About M/C Venture Partners

M/C Venture Partners has long been recognized as one of the most active private equity investors in the telecommunications industry. M/C Venture Partners has invested in early-stage companies in emerging segments of the communications industry for over 20 years, and was a founder or first venture investor in such leading companies as Brooks Fiber Properties (merged into MCI Worldcom), Ovation Communications (merged into McLeod USA), Western Wireless, HarvardNet, TeleCorp Holdings, Crowley Cellular and Triad Cellular. The firm is currently investing M/C Venture Partners IV, a $260 million fund focused on the global telecommunications and related IT services industries. For more information, visit www.mcventurepartners.com

About Osborn Capital LLC 

Founded by Jeff Osborn, former vice president of sales at UUNET Technologies, Osborn Capital is an early stage investment fund that provides capital and expertise to emerging technology companies. With more than fifteen years of senior technical, marketing and sales experience from a dozen start-up ventures and Internet-related companies, Osborn capital has provided seed capital and consulting services to help start many successful companies, such as Adero, HarvardNet, and Builder Supply Net. For more information, visit www.osborncapital.com.

About Spectrum Equity

Spectrum Equity Investors is a leading private equity investment firm focused on the communications industry. Founded in 1993, Spectrum currently manages funds totaling more than $1 billion in capital. Spectrum's investment professionals possess more than 75 years of combined experience and have invested in more than 60 communications companies since 1979. Spectrum's exclusive focus on the communications industry, coupled with the quality of its partnerships with operating management, has made the Firm one of the largest, fastest growing and most experienced private equity investors in the communications and information enterprises. For more information, contact Kevin Maroni at 617-464-4600 or visit Spectrum's Web site at www.spectrumequity.com.