AllAdvantage.com Scores $31 Million + Strategic Allies With Plan To Bring Next-Level Internet To Advertisers, Consumers.HAYWARD, Calif--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 1999-- Times Mirror's Thomas Unterman and Walden's Rich LeFurgy Join Board As World's Fastest-Growing Internet Community Engages in Mass Expansion AllAdvantage.com today announced the completion of a second round of equity financing Equity Financing The act of raising money for company activities by selling common or preferred stock to individual or institutional investors. In return for the money paid, shareholders receive ownership interests in the corporation. that brings the world's fastest-growing Internet community an additional $31 million in capital. The round comprises online advertising and media trendsetters and includes Walden Media and Information Technology Fund as lead investor, Times Mirror TMCT TMCT Trailer Mounted Communications Tower Ventures, Partech International, J&W Seligman's New Technologies Funds and Communications and Information Fund as well their off-shore counterparts, Technology Partners, and first-round investor Alloy Ventures. The conclusion of the round of financing is a new landmark in the extraordinary growth of the five-month old company, which brings together a community that attracts 10,000 to 20,000 new members each day and reached two million members in the first 120 days of launch of its "Get Paid To Surf Pay to surf is a business model that became popular in the late 1990s, prior to the dot-com crash. Essentially, a company places advertising on members' screens and pays them from advertising earnings. the Web" program. Through its proprietary Viewbar(TM), AllAdvantage.com offers a dynamic form of communication that revolutionizes the way businesses interact with online users by allowing them to weave tight and balanced relationships that are based on real knowledge and consumer trust. "Our lead keeps on growing. Those who understand the evolving Internet economy The Internet Economy refers to conducting business through markets whose infrastructure is based on the Internet and World-Wide Web. An Internet economy differs from a traditional economy in a number of ways, including: communication, market segmentation, distribution costs, and price. have taken a hard look at our progress, measured the lead we have built over the past five months, and decided to join," said AllAdvantage.com CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. and co-founder Jim Jorgensen Jim Jorgensen (born in 1948 in Racine, Wisconsin is a serial entrepreneur. He has started over 25 enterprises since getting his MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business at the age of 24. , an experienced entrepreneur whose earlier companies include Discovery Zone, Inc. "We are using the momentum we've created to expand massively." The company will use the $31 million to carry out all-out expansion in all areas, including membership growth, technology development, and branding and advertising. AllAdvantage.com will draw on the Internet advertising expertise of its investing partners to strengthen its Board of Directors. Rich LeFurgy, who co-founded and currently chairs the Internet Advertising Bureau The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) is a UK trade body created in 1997 to promote online advertising. It works across a range of areas, with internal bodies setting standards and best practices for a range of different online marketing techniques. , and is a Board Member of the Advertising Research Foundation and the Advertising Education Foundation, represents round-leading investor Walden. "AllAdvantage.com has created a successful new environment where for the first time consumers get paid for their economic value," said LeFurgy. "The consumer is not just getting products and services, but significant recurring cash with no strings attached, and the advertiser is able to deliver highly targeted ads to the receptive community." Also joining the Board is Thomas Unterman of Times Mirror's TMCT Ventures. Unterman, who is also the CFO See Chief Financial Officer. and EVP EVP Executive Vice President EVP EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) Valve Position Sensor EVP Electronic Voice Phenomenon EVP Europäische Volkspartei (Germany) EVP Employee Value Proposition for Times Mirror, heads up Times Mirror's information technology and new media endeavors. He is a Member of the Board of such companies as Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, Big Entertainment, WorldRes and Target Media Partners, as well as several charitable and community organizations. Times Mirror's past Internet investments include Netscape (AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. ), WebTV, Hollywood Online, and CitySearch (TMCS TMCS Trimethylchlorosilane (derivatization reagent) TMCS Telecommunications Management & Control Subsystem TMCS Taylor Made Computer Solutions, Ltd. ). LeFurgy and Unterman join a board that also includes seed investors John Shoch, General Partner at Alloy Ventures, and David Pidwell, former President of Rasna Corporation, as well as two of the founders of AllAdvantage.com, Jim Jorgensen and Johannes Pohle. Phil Sanderson, Partner of Walden, said: "Going into this round of financing, AllAdvantage.com is one of the fastest-growing Internet communities in history. With another $31 million in capital, AllAdvantage.com is poised to become the far-and-away leader in this industry." "AllAdvantage's members not only get cash, but also the value of convenient and relevant services," said Ira Ehrenpreis, Partner at Technology Partners. "The members want the Viewbar(TM) on their screen all the time, which makes it the real-estate property of choice for advertisers and sponsors." "AllAdvantage.com changes the relationship between advertisers and consumers," says Vincent Worms, Founder of Partech International, "and the online community is designating AllAdvantage.com to be its trusted advisor and agent." Partech International specializes in Internet companies and holds stakes in companies such as Adknowledge, Bidcom.com, Bigstep.com, Digital Island (DI), and Vignette (VIGN VIGN Vignette Corporation (stock abbreviation, AMEX) ). The additional funding comes as AllAdvantage.com continues to strengthen its executive team, despite the competitive human-resources marketplace in Silicon Valley. Last week saw the appointment of distinguished Internet privacy advocate Ray Everett-Church as the Internet's first Chief Privacy Officer, as well the appointment of CNN CNN or Cable News Network Subsidiary company of Turner Broadcasting Systems. It was created by Ted Turner in 1980 to present 24-hour live news broadcasts, using satellites to transmit reports from news bureaus around the world. Interactive's David Beckman-Robertson as Vice President of Sales. About AllAdvantage.com AllAdvantage.com, the leader in the emerging Viewbar(TM) communications industry, is changing how Internet users and companies interact, by leveraging the buying power Buying Power The money an investor has available to buy securities. In a margin account, the buying power is the total cash held in the brokerage account plus maximum margin available. Also referred to as "Excess Equity. of its fast-growing online community into an array of benefits such as cash rewards, discounts and promotional offers. Services are delivered to the online community free of charge through AllAdvantage's proprietary Viewbar(TM) communications device. The Hayward based company was founded in February 1999 and is privately held. For more information, visit www.alladvantage.com About Walden Walden Media and Information Technology Fund, Walden's ninth fund since 1974, www.waldenvc.com/wmit, is an early stage strategic investment fund that specializes in Internet advertising, e-commerce, education and entertainment. Partnering with corporate limited partners such as America Online, Times Mirror, Washington Post, Kaplan, New Line Cinema, Gartner Group, Electronic Arts, Sumitomo and others, Walden helps accelerate the growth of its portfolio companies as well as the strategic interests of its corporate investors. Walden has provided early stage funding to other advertising and e-commerce companies such as bamboo.com (BAMB), AdKnowledge, Snowball, Lot21, WorldRes, Aveo, ECCubed, Moai and equipmentleasing.com. About Alloy Ventures Alloy Ventures, lead investor in the initial round at AllAdvantage.com, invests in seed and early stage technology companies, with a particular focus on the information sciences and life sciences. Alloy Ventures, Inc. (www.alloyventures.com) adopted its new name in 1999, and continues to manage the institutional venture capital funds Venture Capital Funds An investment fund that manages money from investors seeking private equity stakes in small and medium-size enterprises with strong growth potential. Notes: previously managed under the name Asset Management Associates, Inc. The firm is based in Palo Alto, Calif., with over $300 million of committed capital under management. About Technology Partners Technology Partners focuses on technology-based ventures in information processing, communications and health care. Founded in 1980 and now investing its sixth fund, Technology Partners (www.technologypartners.com) works with entrepreneurs as a lead investor and business advisor to create successful new companies. Technology Partners looks for truly innovative ventures in major new areas of opportunity. The Firm finds ventures in these emerging markets by thinking strategically, maintaining relationships with creative and leading entrepreneurs, and listening carefully to new ideas. Technology Partner has provided the seed or initial capital to several publicly traded companies publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. , including E-Loan (EELN), ImageX.com (IMGX), Trimble Navigation (TRMB), Silicon Gaming (SGIC SGIC State Government Insurance Commission ), and CellNet Data Systems (CNDS CNDS Center for Networking and Distributed Systems (Johns Hopkins University) CNDS Condensate CNDS Calling Name Delivery Service (Ameritech) CNDS Call Number Delivery System ). |
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