Leading Internet Investor Tim Draper Significantly Increases Stake in
eFax.com
Wednesday February 17, 8:16 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Additional Investment Affirms Company's Strategic Move to Internet Services and Software
MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 1999--Tim Draper, a leading Internet venture capitalist and managing partner of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, today announced a significant additional investment in eFax.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:EFAX - news), formerly JetFax, Inc.
Raising his stake in the company to over six percent signals a major endorsement of eFax.com's new strategic focus on the Internet. Earlier this month, eFax.com announced a strategic shift of the company's resources from advanced fax engines and multifunction products to Internet services and software.
The company's two new flagship products include a breakthrough, free fax-to-email service at www.eFax.com and HotSend, a software utility for capturing and sending email attachments with a single click.
An early stage venture capital firm, Draper Fisher Jurvetson has backed a string of Internet bonanzas, including Hotmail, Four11, C2B, Preview Travel, and Internet Shopping Network. The venture capital firm was among the first to invest in the Internet.
Since 1993, the firm has invested in over 80 Internet startups -- more than any other independent venture capital firm. Seed investments from Draper Fisher Jurvetson have consistently sprouted Internet dynamos, many of which have successfully partnered with Internet giants like AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Inktomi, and Cisco Systems. As a longtime backer of the company, Draper says eFax.com is on the verge of explosive growth.
''eFax.com has a powerful business model, similar to Hotmail,'' said Draper, who is widely known for spotting trends in the Internet and online arena.
''The company has software viewer technology that is difficult to copy, years of experience with fax communications, and is offering the fax-to-email service for free to build the subscriber base. The combination of the eFax service together with their HotSend email capture software offer the potential to catch on like wildfire and rapidly build a 'sticky' member base similar to the Hotmail free email service,'' Draper added.
Hotmail, the world's largest email provider, has shown that a free subscription based service like eFax.com offers tremendous potential. Hotmail is the fastest growing subscription service in history and in its first two years of operation, it gained more than 10 million subscribers in over 220 countries.
''Draper has been a great, long-term investor over the years and has seen us partner with some of the biggest names in the fax industry,'' commented Rudy Prince, CEO. ''With this new launch of our Internet fax service together with the name change of the company, we're embarking on a whole new industry which will tie close to 100 million fax machines worldwide directly to the Internet.''
About Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Draper Fisher Jurvetson is a leader in start-up venture capital. Since 1993, the company has invested in over 150 high-tech enterprises, and was a pioneer in Internet investing. Based in Redwood City, Calif., Draper Fisher Jurvetson focuses on information technology businesses with enormous market potential.
The company aims to help entrepreneurs achieve their maximum potential through team building, partnerships, advice and support, as well as investments. For more information call Barry Hutchison 650/599-9000 or email at jbhutchison@hotmail.com.
About eFax.com
eFax.com, Inc. (formerly JetFax, Inc.) is a leading provider of Internet document communication solutions. eFax.com has a range of products that allow users, regardless of technical expertise, to manage and distribute paper and digital documents easily.
The company's flagship products are HotSend, free software to read any email attachment, and eFax.com, a free fax-to-email consumer service. The company also sells hardware products, and is headquartered in Menlo Park. For more information, call 650/324-0600, fax 650/326-6003, or visit www.eFax.com.
''Safe Harbor'' Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: With the exception of historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. The Company wishes to caution readers that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Those factors include the following: the uncertain performance, user adoption, and financial results from products integrating fax technology with the Internet; operating difficulties in successfully combining the businesses of the Company and DocuMagix; the size and timing of and fluctuations in end user demand for the Company's branded products and OEM products incorporating the Company's technology; the fact that the Company's markets are characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards and frequent introductions of new products and enhancements, and the Company's ability to respond to such changes; difficulties which the Company may experience in completing the development of turnkey designs for OEM customers, its color technology or other products; the fact that the multifunction and color markets targeted by the Company are at an early stage of development; the highly competitive nature of the markets for the Company's products; the phase-out or early termination of the Company's branded products or OEM products incorporating the Company's technology; the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled personnel; the Company's reliance on third party suppliers for components used in the Company's products; the quarterly variability in the Company's bookings and design wins; and the Company's reliance on a relatively small number of OEM customers for a large percentage of its revenue. These and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are also discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent filings on Form 10-K, Form S-8, Form 10-Q, and Form S-1.
Note to Editors: eFax.com, the eFax.com ''swirl'' logo, eFax.com Enabled, JetFax, Microviewer, JetSuite, PaperMaster, Documagix and the JetFax logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of eFax.com, Inc. All other trade names and marks are the property of their respective companies.
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