New in the News
ATIO, etown.com, Freei.Net, internet.com, Qliq-On, RetailExchange.com, RMI.NET
BestBuy.com leads $22 Million Second Round Financing of etown.com
NEW YORK– etown.com, an online source for consumer electronics information and shopping, secured $22 million in new equity capital, led by BestBuy.com, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE:
BBY) The round, which was oversubscribed, brings the total amount of capital invested in etown.com to $25.5 million. BestBuy.com was joined by ZDNet (NYSE: ZDZ) and a select group of investors including Sands Brothers, Gruber & McBaine Capital Management, Bedford Oak Partners, LP, and Valor Capital Management LP. BestBuy.com has obtained non-exclusive license rights to etown.com’s editorial content including more than 4,200 product profiles and unbiased, expert product reviews and side-by-side product comparisons. BestBuy.com will also have access to IDA, etown.com’s interactive shopping assistant. Additionally, BestBuy.com will participate as a retailer in etown.com’s DealerWeb shopping environment and receive non-exclusive referrals from etown.com visitors wishing to make consumer electronics purchases. etown.com previously closed a $3.5 million initial round of funding in February 1999.http://www.BestBuy.com
http://www.etown.com
Freei.Net Raises $15 Million from an American Express Mutual Fund
SEATTLE — Freei.Net, a free and anonymous Internet service provider, received a $15 million investment from the AXP Strategy Aggressive Fund, an American Express mutual fund. Freei.Net is the seventh largest Internet service provider in the nation with more than 1.5 million subscribers.
http://www.freei.net
RetailExchange.com Receives $11 Million Financing
BOSTON — RetailExchange.com, a business-to-business online marketplace specializing in the trade of excess retail goods, announced $11 million in equity financing from a consortium led by Internet Capital Group (Nasdaq:
ICGE). Other participants in the financing include Dorset Capital, Castile Ventures, and Gordon Brothers Group LLC. Mark Lotke
, managing director of ICG, and John Berg, managing partner of Dorset Capital, will join the RetailExchange.com board of directors. RetailExchange.com will provide an online forum that allows pre-qualified buyers and sellers to trade excess consumer goods.http://www.retailexchange.com
internet.com Venture Fund II Invests in Taiwan and Latin American Internet Ventures
DARIEN, Conn.– internet.com Venture Fund II, part of the affiliated venture arm of internet.com Corp. (Nasdaq:
INTM), publisher of this website, announced the closing of investments in LatinVision.com and Taiwan-based Gourmetnet.com. The investments are part of internet.com Venture Fund II’s expanding portfolio of early-stage investments in Internet content properties. internet.com Venture Fund I and II have invested in 22 Internet properties to date. LatinVision.com aims to be the leading Internet business network in Latin America. Gourmetnet.com offers comprehensive gourmet-related information for China. The site is in the Chinese language.http://www.internet.com
Commerce Solutions Provider Acquires Assets of AIS Network
DENVER — RMI.NET Inc. (Nasdaq:
RMII), a national e-business and convergent communications company, acquired the assets of Chicago-based AIS Network Corp., a network integrator and web site development company exclusively for business customers, for $3.65 million. AIS provides dedicated Internet access; web site development and hosting; e-commerce solutions; application hosting; and Internet marketing and consulting. RMI.NET now has more than 107,000 customers and an annualized revenue run rate of approximately $50 million.http://www.rmi.net
ATIO Corp. and CE Software Holdings Agree to Merge
MINNEAPOLIS — ATIO Corp. signed a definitive agreement to merge with Des Moines-based CE Software Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:
CESH). Privately held ATIO is the producer of CyberCall, a fully integrated E-business customer care solution. CE Software Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CE Software Holdings Inc., has developed automation utilities and e-mail software for Microsoft Windows 95/98, Windows NT and Macintosh users.http://www.atio.com
Sitestar Buys Stake in an Internet Marketing Company
ENCINO, Calif.– Sitestar Corp. (OTCBB:
SYTE), a diversified Internet holding company, acquired a 10 percent stake in Qliq-On Corp., a Los Angeles-based Internet marketing company. Financial terms of the acquisitionwere not disclosed. Qliq-On will act as Sitestar’s exclusive outsourced marketing department, providing all of Sitestar’s e-commerce holdings, including present and future portfolio companies, with comprehensive online and offline marketing services.
http://www.sitestar.com
Do you think YOUR cool company ought to be featured in a VC Watch column?
Then go here …
http://www.flashbase.com/forms/VCWatch
… and tell us all about yourself.
GET BUZZED!
VC Buzz, that is.
The latest buzz on the daily deals coming down in the femtosecond pace of the Venture Capital world
VC Buzz brings you the latest on who’s gotten their funding and from whom, what’s happening at the VCs and who’s just swallowed whom in the maniacally fast, deadly serious Darwinian scramble for Internet success and dominance.
Don’t get trampled by the herd … stay ahead with VC Buzz, delivered every business day to your e-mail box.
Check it out
online or SIGN UP get it delivered FREE every day to your e-mail. When you sign up, scroll down to the “Internet Stocks Channel” subhead and check the VC Buzz box.