Birthday Express.com Celebrates $25 Million Commitment to E-commerce Strategy; Capital Infusion Fuels Leading Party Resource Company.SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 10, 1999-- Birthday Express.com, the world's leading Internet provider Internet provider - Internet Service Provider of children's birthday party products and services, today announced it has sold a minority interest for $13.1 million in venture funding, with ARCH Venture Partners as the lead investor, joined by Advanced Technology Ventures and Sigma Partners Sigma Partners is a major venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley and Boston. Sigma Partners invests in early-stage information technology companies (semiconductor, software and hardware). The firm was founded in 1984 by J. Burgess Jamieson and C. Bradford Jeffries. . The capital infusion Capital infusion Often refers to the cross-subsidization of divisions within a firm. When one division is not doing well, it might benefit from an infusion of new funds from the more successful divisions. will be supplemented by an additional $12 million capital commitment from Birthday Express.com's internally generated funds. The combined $25.1 million will be used to finance an aggressive nationwide acceleration of the company's e-commerce initiative in the party supplies product category. Throughout the coming year, Birthday Express.com will embark on a national branding and marketing campaign, including on-line advertising, print advertising and public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most . Additionally, the company plans to use infusion dollars to expand beyond products and services for children's birthday parties to include adult and family milestone, special occasion and holiday celebrations. "Birthday Express.com seeks to help more consumers celebrate the lives of their families easily and affordably by placing the conveniences of e-commerce at the forefront of our business strategy," said Mike Jewell, co-founder and 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. of Birthday Express.com. "We are very pleased to receive funding from our venture partners to further our leading position as a provider of children's birthday party products and services on the Internet." "Birthday Express.com has a clear first-to-market advantage in the children's party supply e-commerce category with more than 300,000 active customers and more than two million households in its database," said Bob Nelsen of ARCH Venture Partners. "With Birthday Express.com's leading industry role and strong management team, we expect company growth to accelerate in the coming year." Currently offering the world's largest selection of popular children's birthday themes and related products, Birthday Express.com is spearheading an aggressive revolution in the party goods industry. The company ships more than 1,000 customized party packages each day from its distribution and fulfillment center to every corner of the globe, and its customer base continues to expand at a rate of 40 percent annually. Theme diversity includes exclusive and licensed patterns such as Madeline, the Rainbow Fish rainbow fish: see killifish. , The Big Comfy com·fy adj. com·fi·er, com·fi·est Informal Comfortable. comfy Adjective [-fier, -fiest] Informal comfortable Adj. 1. Couch, and Theodore Tugboat Theodore Tugboat is a television show for children about a little tugboat, his friends, and their adventures in the Big Harbor. Produced in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada by CBC Television and Cochran Entertainment from 1993 to 1999, it is no longer in production and the , as well as other mainstream party themes from Disney, Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) ., and LucasFilm Ltd. among others. The most complete party resource for busy parents, Birthday Express.com offers services beyond products such as party planning checklists, craft and activity ideas, recipes and snack suggestions, and decoration tips -- all entirely free. About Birthday Express.com Birthday Express.com is the Internet's leading provider of themed party products and services for children's birthday celebrations. Its interactive Web site www.BirthdayExpress.com and consumer catalog streamline busy parents' party planning procedures, allowing them to celebrate their children's birthdays easily and affordably by offering fun, creative, professional party packages customized for any number of guests. Founded 1994 in Kirkland, Wash., Birthday Express.com will ship products this year for more than 360,000 birthday parties attended by more than 3 million children. About ARCH Venture Partners ARCH Venture Partners is a premier provider of seed and early stage venture capital for the commercialization of innovations in information technology, life sciences, and physical sciences. The partnership's special expertise is to found, co-found, and build technology firms from startup. Following this unique investment model, ARCH has delivered superior returns for investors and entrepreneurs. The partnership has been profiled in a Harvard Business School Harvard Business School, officially named the Harvard Business School: George F. Baker Foundation, and also known as HBS, is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. case study, The Wall Street Journal, and most recently, Fortune Magazine. ARCH maintains offices in Albuquerque, Chicago, New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , and Seattle. ARCH currently manages four funds totaling $325 million and has invested in the founding venture capital round for more than 50 companies. ARCH investors include major corporations, pension funds, endowment funds Endowment funds Investment funds established for the support of institutions such as colleges, private schools, museums, hospitals, and foundations. The investment income may be used for the operation of the institution and for capital expenditures. , financial institutions, and private investors. About Advanced Technology Ventures Advanced Technology Ventures is a leading venture capital firm focused on early-stage opportunities in the information technology and health care markets offering emerging companies an unparalleled breadth and depth of industry, market, operational and technical expertise. Since 1979, ATV's combination of management experience, world-class technical talent, extensive global network, and international reach has helped more than 100 emerging companies develop winning strategies. With $300 million currently under management and a network of global resources, ATV (1) (Advanced TV) An early name for the digital TV standard proposed by the Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service (ACATS). See ACATS. See also ATV Forum. (2) (Analog TV) Refers to the NTSC, PAL and SECAM analog TV standads. provides the substance that helps entrepreneurial teams maximize market opportunities and navigate their way from inception through IPO (Initial Public Offering) The first time a company offers shares of stock to the public. While not a computer term per se, many founders, employees and insiders of computer companies have found this acronym more exciting than any tech term they ever heard. , and beyond. About Sigma Partners Sigma Partners is a privately held venture capital partnership organized in 1984 to make equity investments in businesses that offer favorable opportunity for significant growth in size and value. Possessing great experience and perspective in successful Internet investing, Sigma began with the venture capital industry's first investment in an Internet company made in March 1993. With a history of successful investing in entrepreneurial companies, Sigma currently manages four funds with combined capital of more than $300 million. |
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