Lighthouse Capital Partners Announces First Quarter Highlights; Unveils Plans for New Fund; Firm Approves $88 Million in Commitments in First Quarter; Firm Announces Formal Strategy to Further Investing in Israel.

MENLO PARK, Calif. & CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Lighthouse Capital Partners (LCP), a leading venture debt firm, today announced its first quarter highlights, including the firm's approval of $88 million in commitments to 16 emerging companies in the technology and life sciences sectors, its plans to raise its next fund, LCP VI, and its new strategy for expanding its investing reach outside the U.S. into Israel.

Continued investing momentum in Q1

LCP approved $88 million of commitments to 16 new portfolio companies during the first quarter of 2006, bringing the total number of investments from its fifth fund to more than 135 companies. During the quarter, LCP realized its 13th successful liquidity event within the last year with the acquisition of Sandburst by Broadcom.

"As we start off 2006, we are excited by the momentum we are experiencing in our key investing areas - communications, enterprise computing, storage, biotechnology and medical devices - and the opportunities being presented to us by promising young companies in these markets," said Rick Stubblefield, co-founding managing director of Lighthouse Capital Partners. "Even more importantly, we are encouraged by the performance we are seeing within our existing portfolio, including the recent successful exits by Sandburst, CombinatoRx and NxStage. These successful companies, along with ten others that have achieved positive liquidity over the last year, position us to continue our strong track record of delivering top quartile results within the venture industry."

Plans for a new fund announced

LCP also announced today that it plans to raise its next fund, LCP VI, this year. Fundraising for LCP VI will commence in the third quarter of 2006. The firm will use the new fund to continue its strategy of making investments in the form of secured loans to early- and expansion-stage companies that have received equity financing from top-tier venture capital firms. LCP plans to invest the new fund in its core sectors of technology and life sciences. Specific details on the size and closing date of the fund will be released at a later date.

New strategy for investing in Israel announced

LCP also announced separately today that it has entered into a partnership with Magnolia Capital to source investment opportunities in Israel. (See separate release issued today entitled, "Lighthouse Capital Partners and Magnolia Capital Join Forces to Bring Venture Lending to Emerging Companies in Israel"). Through this strategic alliance, the joint companies plan to bring the Lighthouse venture lending model to Israel and emerging Israeli-related companies in the technology and life sciences sectors.

"Venture lending has been an under-utilized tool in the Israeli start-up market and we are delighted to be teaming with Magnolia to make this kind of valuable capital available to promising emerging companies in the region," said Gwill York, co-founder and managing director of Lighthouse.

About Lighthouse Capital Partners

Lighthouse Capital Partners is a leading venture debt firm with investing offices in Menlo Park, Calif. and Cambridge, Mass. Lighthouse invests capital in the form of secured loans to early- and expansion-stage technology and life science companies that have received equity financing from top-tier venture capital firms. The Lighthouse investment team consists of seasoned professionals with a wide breadth of operating and financial experience. Over the past decade, LCP has funded some of the nation's pre-eminent young companies, including Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Netflix, nVidia, Ariba, Broadbase Software, Rhapsody Networks, Foundry Networks, Sirocco Systems and Airespace.