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MyPersonal.com Announces Closing of Venture Capital Round Prominent Venture Capitalists Invest $5.8 Million in Leading Affinity Portal Provider
Emeryville, CA. - September 16, 1999 - MyPersonal.com, Inc. (www.mypersonal.com),
the leading portal provider for affinity groups, announced the closure
of a round of venture capital funding. The company secured $5.8 million
in financing from a syndicate co-led by The Walden International Investment
Group and Crystal Internet Venture Funds. Also participating in this round
were Redwood Venture Partners and Garage.com. These investors join prominent
Silicon Valley investors including Craig Johnson and Venture Law Group.
"Funding from these premiere investors catalyzes and intensifies MyPersonal.com's
ability to empower Alumni Associations to effectively reach, serve, and
engage their members. Our investors' vast experience in the Internet and
technology sectors is a great supplement to our team's Internet savvy.
We are pleased that Walden's limited partners include endowment funds
of major Universities, providing solid support to our vision," said Douglas
Fish, President and co-founder of MyPersonal.com.
"The Start Page's underlying architecture allows MyPersonal.com to provide
unique, branded communities which reflect our clients' branding and messaging.
This investment will enable us to expand our marketing initiatives and
grow our team of seasoned Internet professionals while further developing
our technologies and business development relationships." said Barak Carmon,
CTO and co-founder of MyPersonal.com.
"MyPersonal.com's management team has demonstrated a keen vision in establishing
virtual communities for strong affinity groups. They are the right people
who understand and best respond to the Alumni Associations' goals on the
Web. Our investment will allow MyPersonal.com to solidify their leading
position in this market, and offer additional products and services to
their constituents" said Joseph Tzeng, Managing Director at Crystal Internet
Venture Funds.
"Through our close relationship with major universities we appreciate
the value of community and shared focus which MyPersonal.com brings to
the marketplace. Our funding and networking will enhance their responsiveness
to this affinity group's unique needs", commented Lip-Bu Tan, Chairman
of The Walden International Investment Group.
"MyPersonal.com enables affinity groups to better serve their constituents
while significantly reducing overhead. The company is solidly positioned
in the marketplace as demonstrated by the strong response from Alumni
Associations," added Andy Kau, General Partner of The Walden International
Investment Group. "MyPersonal.com's technical prowess establish them as
the premiere Internet company which provides branded online communities
for affinity groups. Their architecture and proprietary technologies add
immense value by supporting customized solutions which meet the needs
of the Alumni Association and alumni alike," adds Raj Singh, General Partner
at Redwood Venture Partners.
Joseph Tzeng, Managing Director at Crystal Internet Venture Funds and
Andy Kau, General Partner at The Walden International Investment Group
have joined the Board of Directors.
About Walden International Investment Group
The Walden International Investment Group ("WIIG"): WIIG (www.wiig.com),
headquartered in San Francisco, is an international venture capital firm,
affiliated with The Walden Group, which manages funds in excess of $1
billion including endowment funds for a number of major Universities such
as Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and the Universities of Minnesota and Michigan.
Walden's extensive portfolio includes over 200 companies, including: AdKnowledge,
Bamboo.com, LookSmart, Sina.com, getwebby and Planetweb.
About Crystal Internet Venture Funds
Crystal Internet Venture Funds, L.P. ("CIVF"): CIVF (www.crystalventure.com)
is a $200M family of funds headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, with offices
in Ohio, Silicon Valley, and Taiwan. Since its inception in January of
1997, CIVF has been dedicated to continuing the Internet revolution by
investing solely in Internet and Internet-related companies. Among CIVF's
portfolio are BabyCenter, About.com, Cobalt Networks, and Sina.com.
About Redwood Venture Partners
Redwood Venture Partners (www.redwoodvp.com)
is a venture capital firm that focuses on early stage investment in high
technology companies, specifically in the areas of Internet and other
leading edge communication companies. The current fund is managed by prominent
Silicon Valley veterans including co-founders and executives from Silicon
Graphics, Sun Microsystems, Gartner and other leading technology firms.
Redwood Venture Partners has been involved in prominent deals such as
Cerent, Internet Devices, Fore System /Berkeley Networks, StratumOne to
name a few.
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