BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2000--
I-Group Redefines Incubators with Unique Mentor Capital and Services
to Minimize Business Risk and Build Best-Of-Breed Companies
SOFTBANK Corporation, a world leader in Internet business, and the Intercontinental Group, today announced the formation of I-Group, a SOFTBANK Affiliate. Poised to be the nation's best-of-breed incubator, I-Group is redefining incubators with its unique "mentor capital" services, which include management, partnership, investor, and recruitment mentoring; access to SOFTBANK's powerful "netbatsu" network; and a sustained evergreen venture capital fund. Following the launch an open house will be held in March.
"Boston is a breeding ground for entrepreneurs, and the explosion of Internet companies has reinforced its status as a hub of innovation," said Ron Schreiber, managing director of I-Group. "I-Group's aim is to attract and select the highest caliber entrepreneurs by offering the best available `mentor capital' and resources to launch these new businesses quickly and successfully."
Based in Back Bay's historic Oliver Ames Mansion, I-Group is dedicated to turning the best and brightest ideas from the entrepreneurial and academic communities into fast-growing businesses. I-Group leverages the powerful SOFTBANK "netbatsu" to offer mentoring and partnership, sales, investment and recruitment assistance. The SOFTBANK "netbatsu" is comprised of SOFTBANK's network of more than 130 high tech and Internet companies.
I-Group also announced today its first tenant, ClubTools.com, an application service provider (see separate press release). ClubTools.com was founded by Paul Ognibene, a recent Harvard Business School graduate and business plan contest semi-finalist. "I chose I-Group to incubate my business because the access to expertise and mentoring can put my business ahead of its competitors. And the cachet of I-Group and its SOFTBANK relationships opens a lot of doors for partners, customers and investors," said Ognibene.
Benefits of I-Group
"The Internet has proved fertile ground for new ideas, and venture capital has never been more plentiful. However, capital and good ideas are not enough in today's competitive landscape," said Ellen Roy, managing director of I-Group. "I-Group has a set of turnkey solutions, across multiple business disciplines, which gives entrepreneurs a six month lead time in the critical first-to-market race."
I-Group offers benefits that speed the process involved in starting a company so that fledgling companies can focus on their core business from the start--ensuring the best chance for success and profitability.
I-Group is located in the historic Ames Mansion, a unique facility unlike any other. The Ames Mansion is a 25,000 square foot brownstone mansion with original woodwork and designs, equipped with the latest technology, support, and amenities. I-Group is the only technology incubator in Boston and can maximize the rich technological and educational resources that set the city apart from the rest of the world.
I-Group also provides a value-added set of services and `mentor capital' - strategic counseling in all areas of business from veteran management. As part of these services all portfolio companies have access to the I-Group Jump Start Kit. The kit is comprised of a series of strategic partnerships that provide vastly discounted services in critical business areas, a list of preferred providers to provide quick solutions to typical business problems, and a library of business critical documents to ease the administrative burden on start-up companies.
Finally, entrepreneurs in the incubator are part of the SOFTBANK "netbatsu" and can plug into over 130 portfolio companies for partnerships, sales and investors.
About SOFTBANK
SOFTBANK Corp. has emerged as one of the world's leading Internet market forces. Through its ownership position in over 130 Internet companies and its unique management concept, it is able to create market synergies for its family of companies on a global scale. Its activities encompass distribution, publishing, Internet media platforms, a broad range of e-commerce businesses, and joint ventures with companies including Microsoft, Cisco, Yahoo!, the Nasdaq, and many other market leaders. SoftBank is the largest shareholder in leading Internet companies including Yahoo!, E*TRADE and ZDNet, and the market cap of their publicly held companies alone is over $125 billion. SOFTBANK subsidiaries include SoftBank Venture Capital and SoftBank Capital Partners, which together comprise a $1.5 billion venture fund for technology companies.
About I-Group
I-Group is the premier Northeast incubator for Internet entrepreneurs, focused on turning great ideas into fast-growing businesses. I-Group combines the expertise of Internet business leader Softbank Corporation and the I-Group, one of Massachusetts' most successful entrepreneurial businesses. I-Group moves far beyond providing the basic administrative services, office space and working capital that incubators are known for. I-Group empowers early stage ideas and companies with `mentor capital'--the expertise and resources for early stage companies to succeed in today's competitive marketplace. I-Group is located on the World Wide Web at: i-group.com. |
