Aras Corporation Secures $4.2 Million Investment Led by Greylock and Matrix Partners.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

LAWRENCE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 2003

Combination of Innovative Technology and Traditional Business Values

Redefines Customer Expectations of Enterprise Software

Aras Corporation, a provider of enterprise Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software, today announced that it has secured $4.2 million in series B funding. The round was led by Greylock and Matrix Partners, which were recently identified as two of the leading investment firms for emerging companies by AlwaysOn(TM) and KPMG. The investment will be used to expand Aras's sales and marketing, and to provide the world-class support consistent with the company's customers-first philosophy. Bill Kaiser, General Partner at Greylock, and David Skok, General Partner at Matrix Partners, will join the Aras' board of directors.

Founded in early 2000 by industry veterans, Aras has grown during a down economy by consistently delivering products to discrete manufacturers that solve pressing business problems. Aras Innovator(TM) is an engineering business application suite with out-of-the-box modules for project and program management, design and development, sourcing, production, tooling, and quality management. The underlying Innovator engine is based on a next-generation Internet architecture that utilizes dynamic logic, common platforms and open standards. Customer benefits include the ability to deploy comprehensive solutions rapidly and adapt the solutions easily to changing business requirements, all at Total Cost of Ownership far lower than traditional enterprise systems.

"For years manufacturing companies have struggled with rigid enterprise systems that required a lot of expensive consulting to implement, yet ultimately failed to deliver the promised value," said Peter Schroer, CEO and Founder of Aras. "Innovator delivers what users have been demanding: a full-featured engineering business solution that is easy to use, deploy and adapt, and provides real business value fast," explained Schroer.

"With growing revenues from existing customers and the addition of new customers at a time when technology sales are down significantly, Aras is clearly producing products that companies want and need," said Bill Kaiser, General Partner at Greylock. "What's more, Aras embodies the traditional business values and work ethic that this country was built on, making it the type of sound investment Greylock seeks."

"Aras complements their traditional values with truly innovative technology," emphasized David Skok, General Partner at Matrix Partners. "The combination of dynamic logic with a model-driven architecture is a significant advance in application frameworks, as is the flexibility to create and modify applications without programming. Simply put, with this unique approach Aras is redefining the enterprise software value proposition," concluded Skok.

About Greylock

Founded in 1965, Greylock is one of the nation's largest early-stage venture capital firms with over $2.2 billion in committed capital. With offices in Boston and San Mateo the firm focuses on early stage investments in enterprise information technologies, including core technologies, enterprise applications, and managed services; and communications technologies, including systems, components, software and services. Greylock's strategy is to work in a highly supportive manner with emerging companies committed to attaining industry leadership by building long-term value. Over the past 37 years Greylock has provided equity capital and assistance to more than 250 businesses resulting in numerous market leaders including Red Hat, Ascend Communications (now part of Lucent), SDRC (now part of EDS), Manugistics, Mentor Graphics, Apollo Computer (now part of Hewlett-Packard), Tellabs, and Teradyne. For additional information visit http://www.greylock.com.

About Matrix Partners

Since its inception in 1977, Matrix Partners has been dedicated to a quality conscious approach to technology investment with the specific goal of building successful, independent companies. Matrix Partners focuses on companies that develop revolutionary, cornerstone technologies in a broad range of sectors including software, communications equipment, semiconductors, storage, Internet, and wireless. Matrix Partners active approach and bi-costal presence in the two major technology centers of the United States, Boston and Silicon Valley, have contributed directly to the success of premier companies such as Apple Computer, SilverStream Software (now part of Novell), Sycamore Networks, XILINX, FileNet Corporation, eRoom Technology (now part of Documentum), Watermark Software (now WM Software), Apollo Computer (now part of Hewlett-Packard), Tivoli Software (now part of IBM), and Veritas Software. For additional information visit http://www.matrixpartners.com.

About Aras Corporation

Aras Corporation is a provider of enterprise Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software. Aras Innovator(TM) is an engineering business application suite with comprehensive out-of-the-box functionality that addresses the rigorous requirements of discrete manufacturing operations for divisions of large enterprises and their suppliers. The underlying Innovator engine is based on a next-generation Internet architecture and dynamic logic that enables customers to rapidly deploy solutions and easily adapt to changing business requirements at a Total Cost of Ownership far lower than traditional enterprise systems. Customers include Rolls-Royce, Freudenberg-NOK, Ingersoll-Rand, and the U.S. Army Arsenal. Aras is a privately held company headquartered in Lawrence, Mass. For additional information visit http://www.aras-corp.com or call [phone].