It appears SoftBank has also been an investor in The Street.com.
TheStreet.com Closes $25 Million in Second Venture Capital Financing Round
New Investors Include Oak Investment Partners, Bowman Capital Management,
and Waller-Sutton Media Partners
Previous Investors Including Flatiron Partners, Chase Capital Partners,
SOFTBANK Technology Ventures, Constellation Ventures, Pequot Capital
Management and Co-Founders Invest in Second Financing Round
NEW YORK, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- TheStreet.com announced today a $25 million venture capital investment in the online financial and investment news publication, led by a respected team of investment firms. Oak Investment Partners led the round, which included Bowman Capital Management and Waller-Sutton Media Partners.
"This investment is a $25 million vote of confidence for TheStreet.com's business model," said Kevin English, president and chief executive officer of TheStreet.com. "Our team of investors has given us the resources to continue our growth and the strategic insight to help us stay on top of this dynamic marketplace."
"TheStreet.com has established itself as the leader in providing original, real-time financial reporting on the Web," said Ed Glassmeyer, a founder and general partner of Oak Investment Partners. "Oak's investment strategy has always been to choose best-of-breed companies in critical segments. TheStreet.com's distinctive editorial talent and skilled management make us proud to add them to Oak's other Internet leaders such as Exodus, Inktomi, Media Metrix and Kodak's Photonet."
"As avid readers of TheStreet.com, we quickly realized that it will change the way people get the information they need to invest profitably," said Lawrence Bowman, president of Bowman Capital Management. "TheStreet.com is truly a driver for the New Internet Economy, and Bowman Capital Management is delighted to be a partner."
The investment follows a $10 million venture capital investment in May of 1998. All investors who had previously purchased stakes in the company, including co-founders James J. Cramer and Martin Peretz and venture capital firms Flatiron Partners, Chase Capital Partners, SOFTBANK Technology Ventures, Constellation Ventures, and Pequot Capital Management made additional investments in this financing round. Henry R. Kravis and Optimix Private Equity Fund also invested in the $25 million financing round.
"Since our initial investment last May, TheStreet.com has more than doubled its subscriber base and has been recognized as a leader in Web-based financial news and commentary," said Charley Lax of SOFTBANK Technology Ventures. "This investment will enable TheStreet.com to continue to grow even faster than the rapidly developing market for Internet-based financial news and commentary."
The investment will give each of the new investors a minority interest in TheStreet.com, and Oak Investment Partners' Ed Glassmeyer will join the company's board of directors. Kevin English has been named chairman of the board of directors, replacing co-founders James Cramer and Martin Peretz, who remain on the board. English was appointed president and chief executive officer of TheStreet.com in October, and he will continue to hold those titles as well.
"I look forward to seeing Kevin build on TheStreet.com's success as he takes the podium as chairman," said TheStreet.com co-founder James Cramer. "Kevin has the vision, the skills, and the resources to build a global leader in financial news."
"English is uniquely positioned to take the company into continued accelerated growth," said co-founder Martin Peretz.
Proceeds from the investment will be used to fund a provocative marketing campaign, a significant expansion of sales resources, an improved technology infrastructure, and international expansion of TheStreet.com.
TheStreet.com has grown its subscriber base rapidly, and plans to continue this aggressive growth in 1999. Partnerships established with leading companies provide for distribution of TheStreet.com's timely markets coverage on the Internet's leading portal sites, online services, and the next- generation Palm handheld computer. Additionally, TheStreet.com recently launched a redesigned site for easy navigation and prominent placement of the most important business stories of the day.
About TheStreet.com
TheStreet.com (www.thestreet.com), the leading online investment and financial news publication, was founded in 1996 and is based in New York City, with a bureau in San Francisco. The company's editorial team, with 50 experienced financial journalists and two dozen outside contributors, publishes approximately 35 news stories and commentaries every business day, including popular daily columns by James J. Cramer and Herb Greenberg. TheStreet.com has established strategic alliances with Yahoo!, America Online, 3Com, Intuit and other leading companies. TheStreet.com's readership includes approximately 200,000 individual and institutional investors.
About the Investing Organizations
Oak Investment Partners (www.oakinv.com) is a 20-year-old venture capital partnership with over $1.6 billion in committed capital. Over the years, Oak has invested in and nurtured companies that are now leaders of key technology sectors such as consumer and business e-commerce, network and communications equipment, computer systems and storage, and enterprise and design automation software.
Bowman Capital Management is headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., and is the manager of the Spinnaker family of funds, limited partnerships focused on public and private technology growth stocks. As of year-end 1998 Bowman Capital had approximately $1.4 billion under management. Bowman focuses its private equity investments in late-stage companies in key areas of the New Internet Economy.
Waller-Sutton Media Partners, L.P., based in New York, is a private equity fund providing growth and expansion capital to companies involved in the media, communications and entertainment industries.
Chase Capital Partners (www.chasecapital.com), founded in 1984, with over $6 billion of invested capital, is one of the largest private equity firms in the world. Chase Capital Partners is a wholly owned affiliate of Chase Manhattan Corporation, currently one of the largest banks in the United States. The firm has operations in New York, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sao Paolo. Chase Capital Partners is a leading private equity investor in numerous industries, including technology, media, consumer, medical, and retailing.
Flatiron Partners (www.flatironpartners.com) is a leading Internet- focused, early-stage venture capital firm located in New York City. Flatiron Partners is an affiliate of Chase Capital Partners. Flatiron Partners specializes in Internet software, services, and media companies.
SOFTBANK Technology Ventures (www.sbvc.com) is the venture capital group affiliated with SOFTBANK Holdings Inc., the world's leading publisher of computer-related magazines and books, and the largest producer of technology- related trade shows and expositions. SOFTBANK Technology Ventures makes strategic investments in Internet infrastructure companies.
Constellation Ventures is a media, communications and software technology venture capital firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Constellation Ventures invests in early/mid-stage companies that capitalize on the convergence of media, communications and technology companies with products or services that focus on content and digital distribution systems.
Pequot Capital Management, Inc., with $4 billion in funds under management, manages eleven Pequot funds, predominantly in the technology, telecommunications/media and healthcare industries. The Pequot funds span the company lifecycle, from the venture capital stage through private equity to small-cap and large-cap investing.
Optimix Private Equity Fund is a technology venture capital subsidiary of Optimix Asset Management located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Among other funds, Optimix manages the Optimix Technology Fund, a global technology fund. The company has assets under management totaling $1 billion.
SOURCE TheStreet.com
CO: TheStreet.com; Oak Investment Partners; Bowman Capital Management; Waller-Sutton Media Partners, L.P.; Flatiron Partners; Chase Capital Partners; SOFTBANK Technology Ventures; Constellation Ventures; Pequot Capital Management
ST: New York
IN: FIN MLM
SU: FNC
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