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Visto Raises $24 Million in Equity Funding; Funds Will be Used to Broaden Visto's Service as the Leading Personal Information Service; Deal is First Private Placement by Thomas Weisel Partners
BUSINESS WIRE - June 21, 1999 10:16
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jun 21, 1999 (BUSINESS WIRE via COMTEX) -- VistoCorporation said today it has raised $24 million to continue expansion and branding of its Visto(TM) service, the leading Web-based personal information service.
The new funds come from GE Investments (NYSE:GE), the lead investor, CMG @Ventures (NASDAQ: CMGI), which was also an earlier investor, Attractor, and others. Earlier investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners, NEA, and Trinity Ventures also participated in the round. To date, Visto has raised $38.1 million since its founding in 1996.
"Visto's vision of a single point on the Web where people can easily and safely access all their personal information is increasingly important as growing numbers of people use the power of the Internet in their personal and business activities," said Jon Callaghan, general partner of CMG@Ventures.
Visto also announced today that Patrick J. McNeela, vice president, private equities group of GE Investments has become a member of the Visto board of directors.
Visto provides users with a place on the Web to organize their busy lives and keep up with both people and activities. The suite of applications lets users access their personal information, including e-mail, calendar, addresses, files, photos, and more, from any computer, and share information and manage activities across any number of integrated groups. A Visto user, for example, can share personal calendars, photos and ideas with family members in one group; then with one click coordinate work teams, and then click over to organizations, such as Little League teams or garden clubs, to find out the latest schedule.
The new financing was secured through Thomas Weisel Partners LLC, and is the first private placement the San Francisco-based merchant banker has completed since its founding in January 1999. Thomas Weisel Partners LLC is a merchant bank focused on the frontiers of transformation in the growth economy.
"Visto is providing the most sensible, workable solution to the problem of accessing personal information, and other data, from anywhere, as the web and telecommunications continue to merge," said Blake Jorgensen, general partner of Thomas Weisel. "They're by far the leader in addressing the opportunities presented by this convergence."
Visto is the pioneer in Web-based personal and group applications, which enable users to organize their own information, interact in groups and plan events all through one integrated service. The company has partnerships with Compaq Computers (NYSE: CPQ); theglobe.com (NASDAQ: TGLO); mcafee.com, recently launched by Network Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETA); Student Advantage, in providing the AT&T Virtual Backpack (NYSE: T); Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HWP); sixdegrees; Microsoft Outlook (NASDAQ: MSFT); and Puma Technology. The Visto service has been recognized with awards from PC Magazine, PC World, Windows Magazine, Upside and Mobile Computing. The comprehensive Visto service is available at no charge, with up to 15 megabytes of free, secure storage, at www.visto.com. Based in Mountain View, CA, Visto Corporation was founded in 1996.
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