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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Offering Characterized
by Overwhelming Demand And Tremendous Excitement
San Jose, CA - March 28, 2000 - InnoMedia, a leading supplier of Voice-over-IP (VoIP) appliances, gateways, business solutions, and services, today announced that it has completed a US$115.5 million round of venture capital financing from several major private and institutional investors worldwide. InnoMedia will use this round of funding to extend its technology leadership position in the market by expanding engineering, ramping up marketing activities, and bolstering its global VoIP service network. This will enable the company to deliver high quality end-to-end IP telephony solutions while meeting the explosive demand predicted for the years to come.
Institutional investors include venture capital firms Vertex Management, Goldman Sachs, Walden International Investment Group, EDB Investments Pte Ltd, and strategic investors Creative Technology Ltd., and CSK Venture Capital and ISAO Corporation, two companies that belong to the Group of Sega Enterprises/CSK Corporation. Private investors include Mr. Kai-Wa Ng, Chairman, CEO and co-founder of InnoMedia and Mr. Sim Wong Hoo, Chairman and CEO of Creative Technology Ltd.
"InnoMedia plans to parlay this significant investment into market leadership in IP solutions," said Mr. Kai-Wa Ng, Chairman, CEO and co-founder of InnoMedia. "These strategic and financial partners will enable us to capitalize on the explosive growth of the Internet telephony market and allow us to stay focused on delivering value to our customers."
InnoMedia has established a strategy that will enable it to offer the cost savings benefits of IP telephony today, while working toward a vision of enhanced global telecommunications services tomorrow. Rather than simply offering a series of standalone products, InnoMedia's vision is based on an end-to-end solution approach to IP telephony, focused on delivering integrated solutions that are easy to use with quality of service.
The opportunity to invest in InnoMedia's cutting-edge technology and aggressive business model generated overwhelming excitement in the venture capital community.
"We are very positive and excited about this company," said Mr. Lee Kheng Nam, President of Vertex Management, who is the lead investor in this financing. "Their business strategy of putting VoIP capabilities into the hands of millions of people has tremendous potential and is very appealing from an investment point of view."
"We are excited to be a partner with InnoMedia. The company has positioned itself for long-term success with its strategy of offering end-to-end Internet telephony solutions," said Shirley Lin, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. "As one of the world's largest investment banking firms and investors in technology companies worldwide, we see a lot of exciting emerging technologies. We think Internet telephony is a promising sector and InnoMedia is a leader in this market."
"Creative's partnership with InnoMedia will bring high-quality, hardware-based, easy-to-use IP telephony solutions and products to the mass market, making the Internet telephony revolution a reality," said Mr. Sim Wong Hoo, Chairman and CEO of Creative Technology Ltd. "We look forward to maintaining a strong working relationship with InnoMedia to make this happen."
"Today InnoMedia is a leading supplier of VoIP appliances and services. With global investors such as Goldman Sachs, Walden International, and Vertex Management, InnoMedia has attracted powerful support to implement their strategies in the Voice-over-IP market," said Pete Dailey, Director of VoIP Markets Research at San Jose-based Frost & Sullivan. "With financial backing like this combined with InnoMedia's partnership growth strategy, you can expect to see explosive growth as InnoMedia expands and delivers quality and value-added IP telephony products and services to their customers."
About InnoMedia
Founded in 1995, InnoMedia is a privately held multinational organization
with operations in the United States, Singapore, Taiwan and China. InnoMedia
provides end-to-end IP telephony solutions for consumers, enterprises,
service providers and OEM customers. The company's integrated family of
products and its quality-managed network services enable enhanced telecommunications
services by employing the power of the Internet. For more information
on InnoMedia, visit the company's web site at www.innomedia.com.
About Vertex Management
Vertex Management was started in 1988 as the venture capital arm of
Singapore Technologies Group. It is today a global venture capital firm
with over US$600 million under management. It is headquartered in Singapore
and has offices in the United States, London, Taiwan and Israel. Its most
recent fund, Vertex Technology Fund (II) Ltd is its seventh fund, which
will close by early April 2000 with US$150 million. For more information,
please visit www.vertexmgt.com.
About Goldman
Sachs
GOLDMAN SACHS is a leading global investment bank and securities firm,
providing a full range of investing, advisory and financing services worldwide
to a substantial and diversified client base, which includes corporations,
financial institutions, governments and high net worth individuals. Founded
in 1869, Goldman Sachs is one of the world's oldest and largest investment
banking firms. As a principal investor, Goldman Sachs has been a leading
partner for technology companies, with approximately US$2.0 billion invested
in approximately 200 companies since 1995. In Asia alone, Goldman Sachs'
technology portfolio consists of 30 high technology and Internet companies
in sectors including e-commerce, Internet content/media, Internet enabling
technologies, and communications.
About Walden International
Investment Group
The Walden International Investment Group ("WIIG") is an international
venture capital organization with total funds under management in excess
of US$950 million. Since 1987, WIIG has invested in over 200 companies
worldwide, of which more than 40 of them are publicly listed. WIIG provides
seed and start-up funds for emerging growth companies, as well as capital
for expansion financing and acquisitions. WIIG has 14 offices in the United
States; Singapore; Taiwan; Malaysia; Hong Kong; the People's Republic
of China; the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Australia and Israel.
Through WIIG's in-house team of investment professionals with strong industry
background and our network of international offices and partners, WIIG
seeks to help our portfolio companies to gain access to capital, technology
transfer, strategic alliances, international manufacturing and marketing
opportunities. For more information on WIIG, please visit our website
at www.wiig.com.
About EDB Investments
Pte Ltd.
EDB Investments Pte
Ltd. (www.edbi.com) is a wholly owned
subsidiary and the investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development
Board. EDBI manages more than S$4 billion of investment funds and has
to date provided funding close to S$2 billion in about 200 projects. These
funds address critical gaps in our industry clusters by developing new
capabilities, new technology projects and innovative start-ups, and accelerate
the development of local enterprises. Through EDB's and EDBI's team of
professionals and strong network of international offices and partners,
EDBI is active in encouraging and facilitating its portfolio companies
to exploit commercial spin-offs from innovations, emerging technologies
and new markets overseas.
About Creative
Technology Ltd.
Creative Technology
Ltd. (NASDAQ:CREAF), a global leader in PC entertainment products, expands
the power of the personal computer with Personal Digital Entertainment
(PDE) solutions, comprising desktop products, Internet appliances and
Internet applications and services. Leveraging in-house technology, partnerships
and value-added investments, Creative markets its solutions to consumers
and system integrators, with worldwide distribution through traditional
marketing channels, OEMs and the Internet. Creative's mission is to expand
upon its leadership role in PDE, utilizing innovative technology, broadband
and leading-edge designs for technically progressive consumers and entertainment
enthusiasts. Explore PDE at www.creative.com.
About Sega Enterprises/CSK
Corporation/CSK Venture Capital/ISAO
Sega develops and
markets state of the art video game systems, "Dreamcast", and a wide variety
of entertainment software. Sega Enterprises is recognized as the industry
leader in interactive digital entertainment media, offering interactive
entertainment experiences both inside and outside the home. CSK Corporation,
the largest shareholder of Sega, is a major systems integrator and a total
solution provider. CSK Corporation owns significant stakes of companies
that comprises CSK Group, which provides solutions, entertainment and
network businesses. CSK Venture Capital, which is owned by CSK and Sega,
is a leading venture capital firm which focuses on internet/information
technology venture investment. ISAO Corporation, which is owned by Sega
and CSK, is a leading broadband network service provider in communications
and entertainment. Services include voice and multimedia communications,
online content delivery and real-time online entertainment.
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InfoTalk and InfoView are registered trademarks of InnoMedia Incorporated. InnoMedia, InfoAccel, InnoSphere, InfoGate, and the InnoMedia logo are trademarks of InnoMedia Incorporated.
