January 20, 2000 14:25
Passport New Media Closes $6 Million Second Round of Private Financing for ``Your Own World'; Passport Secures Funding for New Internet-Based Service for Children
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LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 2000--Passport New Media, the company behind Your Own World(TM) or YOW(TM) for short, today announced that it has secured more than $6 million in second round private equity financing led by The Megunticook Fund, with the participation of THCG Venture Partners I LLC, the venture funding vehicle of THCG Inc. (Nasdaq:THCG), TREKK Opportunity Partners L.P., Rolling Oaks Enterprises LLC, Wyndcrest Capital Partners and various individual investors.
The Megunticook Fund previously led Passport's first round of funding. Proceeds will be used for YOW product development, marketing, sales, and general corporate and working capital purposes.
Set to launch officially nationwide Feb. 14, 2000, and offered free of any charges, YOW provides children and their parents a dynamic "virtual Internet" experience with content from numerous leading children's Web sites through YOW's closed offline environment. YOW brings the best of the Web together with the benefits of multimedia CD-ROMs, namely speed and performance, to families' home PC desktops.
"This financing validates YOW's unique approach to the issues families face when using the Internet," said Brian Pass, chief executive officer and co-founder of Passport. "We are pleased to be working with this dedicated group of investors to provide an invaluable tool for parents and an educational, fun offline experience for kids."
"This second round of funding demonstrates our continuing commitment to Passport and its launch of YOW," said Thomas N. Matlack, managing general partner of The Megunticook Fund and a member of Passport's board of directors.
"YOW's much-needed service for families and sound business model fit perfectly with our goal to invest in socially and fiscally responsible ventures," he added. Matlack also sits on the boards of the Art Technology Group (Nasdaq:ARTG), Telephia, Publishing Group of America and LearningBrands.com.
"We are excited to partner with YOW," said Chris A. Lawrence, vice president of THCG Inc. "YOW fits in well with THCG's mission to build dominant companies by partnering with Internet entrepreneurs who can benefit from venture development, venture banking and venture funding products and services that help companies throughout their life cycle."
"TREKK believes in YOW's mission, to provide peace-of-mind for parents and enriching interactive content for kids through its fast and fun offline environment," said Jonathan D. Jaffrey, partner, TREKK Funds LLC. "We are pleased to lend our technology and strategic expertise to this extremely worthwhile service for children."
For children ages 2 to 12, YOW provides an easy-to-use, dynamically updated and content-rich experience, featuring real-time multimedia and unparalleled performance with no bandwidth constraints. For parents, YOW provides a unique service that is completely free-of-charge and safe -- kids can use YOW without their parents' constant supervision.
Parents follow a simple point-and-click installation process from a free CD-ROM. After that, children launch the service from their PC desktop without ever going online. YOW's software uses the Internet to automatically update content in the background at any time a parent selects.
About Passport New Media Inc.
Based in Los Angeles, Passport New Media was founded in January 1999 to address the performance and safety issues that children and their parents face when using the Internet.
Passport's team -- comprised of leading interactive digital video and children's content executives -- has developed the company's flagship product, Your Own World or YOW for short, a free service that allows children to experience premium interactive content in a closed environment that may be carefully controlled by parents and educators. Without the need for constant parental supervision, children can experience the wonders of the Web through YOW in a manner that is fast, focused, easy-to-use and, most importantly, fun.
For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.yourownworld.com.
About The Megunticook Fund
Based in Boston, The Megunticook Fund is an SBIC that invests in promising privately held media, communications and technology companies at the earliest stages of their development cycles. The fund's goal is to produce superior economic and social returns through the development of start-ups with innovative products, services and technologies.
The Megunticook Fund has equity interests in several early-stage companies, including Telephia (www.telephia.com), which provides market data to wireless carriers starting in Portand, Ore.; Revbox (www.revbox.com), which provides post-purchase services for online consumers of electronics equipment; the Publishing Group of America (www.americanprofile.com), which intends to deliver the weekly magazine American Profile to rural weekly newspapers across the country; and LearningBrands.com (www.learningbrands.com), which provides curriculum expertise and technology platforms to build customized Web-based courses for leading brand and service organizations. For further information, visit www.megunticook.com.
About THCG
THCG is a global Internet business creation firm providing venture development, venture banking and venture funding products and services. THCG's mission is to build dominant companies by partnering with leading Internet entrepreneurs and traditional bricks-and-mortar companies migrating to the Internet.
THCG has equity interests in a client portfolio of Internet-related companies including ETRAVNET.COM Inc. (OTCBB:ETVT) (www.travnet.com), iBeauty.com (www.ibeauty.com), Interleaf Inc. (Nasdaq:LEAF) (www.interleaf.com), IT Utility Inc. (www.itutility.com), LogNet Systems Inc. (www.lognet.co.il), TechOnLine Inc. (www.techonline.com) and Test University Inc.
THCG also has equity interests in more than 10 additional Internet-related companies, including RealTimeImage Inc. (www.realtimeimage.com), SoftWatch Ltd. (www.softwatch.com), SunShine Media Corp. (www.bikini.com) and webMethods Inc. (www.webmethods.com). THCG's Web site is located at www.thcg.com.
About TREKK Opportunity Partners L.P.
TREKK Opportunity Partners L.P. is an investment partnership started in 1999 by Oakmont Corp. (established 1980), a private investment firm founded by Robert A. Day, founder, chairman and CEO of Trust Company of the West. Oakmont manages more than $1 billion for high net worth individuals. Oakmont has been an investor in private equity since its inception and currently has more than $500 million in private equity investment.
"Safe Harbor" Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include the company's entry into new commercial businesses, the risk of obtaining financing, risks associated with startup or early-stage enterprises, and other risks described in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Your Own World and YOW are trademarks of Passport New Media Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
CONTACT: For YOW
Urge Public Relations
Lolita Basu/Chris Carrico, 323/762-1600
lolita@urgepr.com
chris@urgepr.com |
