Resonant Commerce Secures Initial Round of Financing From Norwest; Start-Up Prepares Automated Solution to Optimize E-Commerce Pricing.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 12, 2000

Resonant Commerce today announced that it has raised $7 million from leading venture capital firm Norwest Venture Partners and a number of Silicon Valley executives. Resonant Commerce is a Silicon Valley start-up developing a price optimization solution that will help companies increase the revenues and profitability of their e-commerce initiatives. The company expects to launch its hosted solution later this year.

"It has been well documented that e-commerce initiatives, especially in the business-to-consumer space, are struggling to achieve profitability," said Andy Atherton, president and co-founder of Resonant Commerce. "We want to help companies improve their financial performance through more effective pricing. We appreciate the confidence Norwest and our other investors have placed in us, and we look forward to working with them to accelerate the success of e-commerce."

"Resonant Commerce has a strong vision of what it will take to make pricing a strategic weapon in e-commerce, both in the B2C and B2B markets," said George J. Still, Jr., managing partner at Norwest Venture Partners. "We believe the timing of their solution makes it an excellent investment opportunity."

Resonant Commerce is developing a solution that will enable e-commerce vendors to adjust prices at the product level in response to changing market conditions, competitive pricing actions and customer segmentation -- all automatically. The solution will drive significant increases in revenue and profitability for e-commerce vendors.

Traditional price optimization solutions were introduced in the 1980s within the airline industry. Now called "revenue management" applications, these solutions have historically produced revenue increases of 3-10 percent.

A recent report by Forrester Research, entitled "Pricing Gets Personal," states that the financial pressures currently being experienced by online retailers will be alleviated through personalized pricing, which Forrester defines as the delivery of prices to customers based on familiarity with a customer's buying behavior and price sensitivity.

About Resonant Commerce

Resonant Commerce, founded in January 2000, is committed to develop and deliver a best-of-breed solution aimed at improving the financial performance of an enterprise's e-commerce initiatives. By enabling organizations to optimize the prices of their goods, Resonant Commerce's hosted solution -- available later this year -- will increase the revenues and profitability of e-commerce businesses. The company was founded by Andy Atherton and Vlad Gorelik. Atherton specialized in pricing strategies at R.B. Webber & Company, a Silicon Valley strategic consulting firm and venture fund, and was most recently VP of Business Development for IUMA, acquired in June 1999 by EMusic.com. Gorelik was most recently chief architect and technical director at Sagent Technology (a data warehousing company) and previously was an architect and manager at Sybase. For more information, call 1-650/980-6100 or visit Resonant Commerce's website at www.resonantcommerce.com.

About Norwest Venture Partners

Norwest Venture Partners, founded in 1961, is the premier venture capital business partner for emerging growth IT companies. The firm actively manages $850 million in investments and has raised more than $1,400 million since inception. Norwest Venture Partners has a broad information technology investment focus, including software and the Internet, data communications, telecommunications, semiconductors and subscriber-based services. The firm prides itself on supporting companies beyond the call of duty with the reputation, financial resources, seasoned business experience and network of relationships required for success. The firm has invested in such market leaders as Annuncio Software, Cerent Corporation (acquired by Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO)), Corio, Extreme Networks (Nasdaq:EXTR), OnDisplay Inc., (NASDAQ:ONDS), Octane Software, Siara Systems (acquired by Redback Networks Inc., (Nasdaq:RBAK)) and Verio (Nasdaq:VRIO). Information on Norwest Venture Partners is available on the Internet at or by calling 650/321-8000 (Palo Alto) or 781/237-5870 (Boston).