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IGNITION PARTNERS RAISES $300 MILLION THIRD FUND FROM TOP INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS Top Institutional Investors Extend Their Support of Firm's Bellevue, WA – October 28, 2004 – Ignition Partners, LLC ("Ignition") a premier venture capital firm based in the Northwest, announced today its first and final close of its third fund raising approximately $300 million from national and global institutional investors, with interest of several times that amount. Although further funding details were not disclosed, with this fund, Ignition Partners will now have approximately $750 million of funds under management in its three funds and over 30 portfolio companies, making it the largest information and communications technology venture capital firm headquartered in the Northwest. Ignition was founded in early 2000 by a team of former senior McCaw and Microsoft executives with a mission to help entrepreneurs build the next generation of great technology companies. Ignition intends to use this new fund to continue its approach of investing primarily in early stage companies, particularly in the areas of enterprise and consumer facing software and services and communications and computing infrastructure services and technologies. "We are humbled and gratified by the ongoing support we have received from such outstanding investors," said Steve Hooper, partner and founder of Ignition and former CEO of AT&T Wireless. "It is a testament to the great, inspired entrepreneurs we've had the privilege to work with over the last 5 years." Of the over 30 companies currently in Ignition's portfolio, roughly a third have been seed stage investments with the remainder in Series A or B round investments. In addition, Ignition has an active entrepreneur in residence ("EIR") program, with some 12 efforts that have yielded 8 deals thus far. "Wer're excited to work with entrepreneurs who believe they can change the world and drive the next wave of innovation," said John Ludwig, partner and founder of Ignition and former leader of the Internet Explorer team at Microsoft. "We believe that these new businesses can have as big an impact as the businesses we've had the privilege of working on in the past." "It's great working with the Ignition team. They really walk the talk of their core values," said Tim Dowling, CEO of Pure Networks, a Seattle based home networking company and result of an Ignition EIR project. "We directly benefit from the experience they gained from building some of the world's most successful technology and telecom businesses." Vani Kola, CEO of Certus, a Bay Area based Corporate Governance and Compliance Management Software company added, "They really do add unique value. I work with top tier VCs and it is a privilege to have Ignition as an investor in my company." Investors in both Ignition's existing and newest fund include more than 25 leading endowments, foundations, trusts, pension, financial and fund of fund investors. "Because of their unique operational experience and value-added approach, Ignition has attracted a set of blue chip institutional investors remarkable for firms of its tenure," said Georganne Perkins, who manages venture capital investments for the Stanford University Endowment. "Ignition is one of a handful of relatively new venture firms that we have invested in," said Peter Dolan, head of private equity for the Harvard University Endowment. "We are pleased to be a significant investor in both Fund II and Fund III." About Ignition Partners Ignition Partners, (www.ignitionpartners.com), headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., is a premier venture capital firm focused on investments in software and communications technology, with a particular emphasis in enterprise and consumer facing software and services, telecommunications and network infrastructure. Ignition brings together an unparalleled combination of domain focus, technical expertise and operational experience. Ignition's partners are proven business leaders who have built some of the world's most successful businesses of the last two decades, including Microsoft Windows, McCaw Cellular Communications, AT&T Wireless and Microsoft's enterprise business. The VC's founders are also credited with leading McCaw's entry into wireless and Microsoft's Internet turnaround. Media Inquiries
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