.406 Ventures Raises $167 Million Early Stage Venture Fund


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - March 11, 2008) - .406 Ventures, an early stage, technology and tech-enabled services-focused venture capital fund, announced that it has successfully closed .406 Ventures I LP at $167 million of committed capital. The fund was oversubscribed.

"We are extremely pleased to have exceeded our $150 million target in raising our first fund and especially pleased to be partnered with such high caliber institutional and family office investors. We found that our strategy resonated with investors who believe that there are unparalleled returns in early stage venture and that this type of investing is best done by smaller funds with highly focused, operationally-oriented partners," said Liam Donohue, Managing Director.

.406's investors include Credit Suisse's Customized Fund Investment Group, Invesco Private Capital, Parish Capital Advisors, Washington University (St. Louis) Endowment, New York City Employee Retirement System and Employees Retirement System of the State of Rhode Island in addition to foundations, family offices and the General Partners.

.406's investment team includes founding partners Larry Begley, Maria Cirino and Liam Donohue as well as Greg Dracon, Principal, and Graham Brooks and Kara Sweeney, Associates. The support team includes So-June Min, Chief Financial Officer, and Kelci Horan, Office Manager.

.406 targets true early stage companies and generally expects to be among the first institutional investors in its portfolio companies. In addition to capital, .406's team brings extensive operating and entrepreneurial experience as well as strong professional networks to its investments.

"As former entrepreneurs and operational executives, we understand firsthand how important it is to have active, well-connected and passionate investors involved at the early stages of a company. We see an exceptional opportunity for firms like .406 to make investments early in a company's lifecycle so that the combination of our capital and our operational expertise can help get companies launched successfully and headed in the right direction," said Maria Cirino, Managing Director. "We aspire to be the type of investor we sought to have around our boardroom tables when we were running companies and facing the challenges and opportunities inherent in starting companies," Cirino added.

.406 invests in technology and technology-enabled business services, with a strong emphasis on IT Security, Open Source software and businesses that address large IT problems by applying proprietary technology via a service model. "We have decades of experience building companies in the technology and services industries and continue to see exciting opportunities for investment there. We make investments where we have experience and can bring value beyond our capital. We have found that the more value we can provide, the greater and faster the portfolio company builds value," added Larry Begley, Managing Director.

To date, .406 has made nine investments including Business Intelligence Advisors, a unique provider of investment-oriented insights; Optaros, a leading provider of next generation Internet applications; RatePoint, a leading online reputation service; identity verification provider ChosenSecurity Inc.; RFID pioneer ThingMagic; enterprise application whitelisting leader Bit9 Inc; application security testing pioneer Veracode; and Memento Inc., which offers an industry leading software product to detect internal fraud.

In addition, the Fund had its first exit in December with the sale of Health Dialog Services Corporation to BUPA for $775 million in cash.

About .406 Ventures

Founded in 2006, .406 Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in innovative Information Technology ("IT") and services companies founded by the finest entrepreneurs. The .406 Ventures team is comprised of industry entrepreneurs, operators and investors who apply real world experience, deep industry knowledge and networks, and strong company-building skills to create value for our entrepreneurs and investing partners. .406 Ventures makes early-stage and de novo investments in market-changing IT Security and Infrastructure, Technology-Enabled Business Services, and Next-Generation Software companies.

Contact Information: Contact: .406 Ventures 470 Atlantic Avenue 12th Floor Boston, MA 02210 P: 617.406.3300 F: 617.406.3301 www.406ventures.com