WR Hambrecht + Co and Geneva Venture Partners Announce Hambrecht Geneva Ventures Fund.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hambrecht Geneva Ventures (HGV) is a $50 million venture capital fund that will invest in early-stage technology companies, primarily in the software sector. Bill Hambrecht and Igor Sill will be the managers of the Fund. Bill Hambrecht is Founder, Chairman and Co-CEO of WR Hambrecht + Co and prior to that was co-Founder of Hambrecht & Quist. Igor Sill is Managing Director and co-founder of Geneva Venture Partners and Founder and Chairman of GenevaGroup International, Inc., an executive search firm specializing in the software industry.

"Igor Sill and I have been co-investors and colleagues for almost 20 years," said Bill Hambrecht. "He has provided excellent advice and guided me to some exceptional professionals over the years. With HGV, I am excited to broaden our venture capital exposure and think Igor is the perfect partner. His past venture record speaks for itself."

Igor Sill has spent his 25-year high-tech career managing software firms and recruiting top software executives. Mr. Sill has managed two earlier funds, Geneva Ventures Partners Funds I and II.

The HGV fund will leverage the experiences of one or both of the managing partners including:

--Substantial software industry knowledge gained from managing software companies and a successful track record of venture investments, including Salesforce.com, Adobe Systems and Siebel, as well as managing venture funds

--Mr. Sill's abilities to assess management talent and assist portfolio companies in the process of finding and hiring the right management team

--An exceptional network of industry contacts in the software industry, venture capitalists and investment bankers

--The venture capital experience and the investment banking resources of WR Hambrecht + Co and its venture capital team who have over 70 combined years of investing experience

"I am thrilled to join forces with long-time friend, co-investor and legendary venture capitalist, Bill Hambrecht," said Igor Sill. "Bill has always had a very keen eye for disruptive and innovative technology ideas and, more importantly, the experience to successfully guide startups through their growth cycles into formidable public companies."

Bill Hambrecht founded WR Hambrecht + Co in 1998 and the firm's OpenIPO auction has been used by 17 companies for initial public offerings. The firm has made over 60 early-stage venture investments throughout its eight-year history primarily through private equity vehicles which included individual investors as well as through three technology funds.

"My 'VC value-add' formula is fund size divided by talent and all of a sudden the winning formula in this business is Igor Sill and Bill Hambrecht," said Bob Bozeman, Angels Fund General Partner. "There is no other firm that can compare with the value-add that these two investors bring behind appropriate investment size. If I were a new venture Founder, this is the team I would want to have behind me."

Marc Benioff, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) commented, "Bill Hambrecht and Igor Sill joining forces with a new venture fund is really a stellar event for the venture community. These two were early investors in Salesforce.com and both brought a lot more than capital to the table. They have been true partners in our business in several ways. First, Igor has been unbelievably helpful in identifying and recruiting key talent that is a part of our management team today. Second, they have both been wonderful about providing us with sound business advice. And third, they have been very generous providing us access to new customers and key investors. They are absolutely the best combination of partners that we could ever hope for in our business."

About WR Hambrecht + Co

WR Hambrecht + Co (www.wrhambrecht.com) is an investment bank committed to using technology and auction processes to provide open and fair access to financial markets for all its clients. The firm's impartial Internet-based auctions, which allow the market to determine pricing and allocation, have dramatically changed the financial services landscape. WR Hambrecht + Co provides underwriting and advisory services for technology and emerging growth companies, as well as equity research, sales and trading, full-service and online brokerage and private equity offerings for institutions and individuals. WR Hambrecht + Co is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Boston, Chicago, London, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia and Stamford, CT. The firm has financial backing from industry leaders including American Century, Crimson Ventures, epartners, Fidelity Ventures, Instinet Corporation, Novell, Park Avenue Equity Capital Partners, LP, Scudder Kemper, Texas Pacific Group, and W Capital Partners.

About Geneva Venture Partners

GVP (www.genevavc.com) is an early stage venture capital fund founded in 1998 by two experienced operating executives to assist committed entrepreneurs in building successful software companies. Our motto is "When we believe in the vision of an entrepreneur we fully support his/her ability to execute that vision".

GVP supports that vision through its extensive access to world class executive talent, and depth of real-world business experience in helping driven entrepreneurs build successful software companies. To that effort GVP brings its own experience at startups, its industry contacts and its commitment to work by your side to create a company to be proud of. GVP provides you access to industry luminaries, prospective customers and distribution partners globally, world-class board members and exceptional candidates for key positions. It takes exceptional people to build exceptional companies. GVP is here to help build yours. As Jack Welch says "Its all about people."

Because GVP invests its industry knowledge, expertise and money, it specifically focuses on the following information technology sectors: Enterprise software, Infrastructure software, Wireless, RFID, VOIP and Embedded technologies.