Hopewell Ventures Announces $3.5 Million Investment in VHT, Inc.

Midwest-Focused Venture Capital Fund Enables VHT to Expand Visual Marketing Solutions to Leading Real Estate Companies

CHICAGO -- Hopewell Ventures, a $110 million venture capital fund licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration as a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC), announced today that it has completed a $3.5 million venture investment in VHT, Inc., a leading provider of visual marketing production, management and distribution services to the real estate industry.

VHT provides professional production, management and distribution of visual content - including images, video, multimedia tours and video-on-demand cable spots - for more than 3,500 companies and 75,000 individuals at leading marketers of real estate and hospitality. The company, headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill., has grown significantly since its establishment in 1999.

"With the rapidly increasing demand for engaging online and off-line visual content from both advertisers and media companies, VHT is now poised to significantly accelerate its national expansion," said Tom Parkinson, Hopewell Ventures partner.

VHT employs a nationwide team of photographers and videographers, and a studio staff of award-winning editors and image specialists, to create visual content. VHT's media gateway and visual asset management services provide for the resizing, reformatting, repurposing, tracking and distribution of visual assets for use in all media. With this single point-of-contact for production, repurposing and placement, clients maximize the return on their video and image investments.

This provides advertisers the most cost-effective way to utilize their visual assets across print, TV, wireless, internet and other visual media, according to Brian Balduf, VHT chief executive officer. For media companies looking to fill broadband internet, video-on-demand (VOD) and wireless data networks, VHT acts as a valuable source of both clients and visual content.

"With the changes in the real estate market and more than 10 million homes for sale every year, our services are even more in demand. The additional resources from Hopewell Ventures will enable us to offer a broader array of advanced marketing capabilities to our clients and media partners," Balduf said. "Hopewell's significant management experience will be a great asset as we pioneer new areas of digital media."

With the investment, Parkinson and Hopewell Ventures' associate Matt McCue join the company's board of directors.

Hopewell's investment of $3.5 million is part of a $3.8 million Series B round of financing. Previous investors also participated.

About Hopewell Ventures

Hopewell Ventures (www.hopewellventures.com) is a regionally focused $110 million venture capital fund licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration as a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC). Now celebrating its third anniversary, Hopewell has invested in ten Midwestern companies including: iTRACS, CSMG, InStadium, Diversified Graphics, SageQuest, National Pasteurized Eggs, Pioneer Surgical Technologies and SageQuest, Inc. TLContact, an early investment, was recently acquired by Steve Case's Revolution Health Group.