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BuyerZone Announces Investment by Bessemer Venture
Partners and Commonwealth Capital Ventures
Top-Tier Venture Capital Firms' Stake Recognizes B2B e-Marketplace's
Continued Growth
WATERTOWN, Mass., (February 24, 2004) - BuyerZone,
the leading online marketplace for B2B purchasing, announced today
that new investor Bessemer Venture Partners and existing investor
Commonwealth Capital Ventures bought an ownership stake of the
company via an acquisition of outstanding shares.
With more than a billion dollars under management and an investment portfolio that includes Ciena Corporation, Gartner Group, HotJobs, Staples, The Sports Authority and Verisign, Bessemer Venture Partners is a top-tier venture capital firm with experience in investing in high-growth companies since 1911. Bessemer's expertise in taking companies to the next level of growth will be a welcome addition to BuyerZone's Board of Directors as the company looks to grow aggressively.
"We're thrilled to have Bessemer join our group of investors," stated Sam Zales, President and CEO of BuyerZone. "Their knowledge of the e-Commerce space will undoubtedly help us achieve our long-term goals for the business."
Duncan McCallum, General Partner for Bessemer Venture Partners and a former BuyerZone board member, will re-join BuyerZone's Board of Directors on behalf of Bessemer. Other Board Directors include Michael Fitzgerald of Commonwealth Capital Ventures, William Haylon of TCHayles & Company, Dan Holland of Flagship Ventures and Mie-Yun Lee and Sam Zales of BuyerZone.
"For several years now, I have been keeping a close eye on BuyerZone's growth," stated Duncan McCallum. "My colleagues and I agreed that the time is right for us to become a shareholder in this remarkably growing, profitable business."
"We have been very pleased with BuyerZone's consistent and focused growth under Sam Zales' leadership," stated Michael Fitzgerald, General Partner and Founder of Commonwealth Capital Ventures. "We took this opportunity to increase our stake in their bright future."
BuyerZone is coming off of a very impressive year. The company was named to Deloitte & Touche's "New England Technology Fast 50" for the second consecutive year in September 2003, and it surpassed its one millionth lead in July 2003- two major milestones for the B2B e-procurement leader. The company is continuing on its financial success as well, completing its sixth consecutive quarter of profitable results. Press releases covering BuyerZone's successes in 2003 can be seen at http://www.buyerzone.com/corporate/about_buyerzone/press.html.
About BuyerZone
Since 1992, BuyerZone has helped millions of companies save and spend wisely on products and services they need to run their businesses. Facilitating more than $1 billion in B2B transactions in 2003, BuyerZone's premier Request for Quotes toolset and award-winning procurement advice cover more than 90 types of critical business purchases.
Profitable since mid-2002, BuyerZone is a privately-held, venture backed company whose investors include BancBoston Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Commonwealth Capital Ventures, Flagship Ventures and Women's Growth Capital Fund. Vendor partners include Lanier, Mitsubishi, NEC, Nortel, Pitney Bowes, Paychex, Toshiba and Xerox.
For more information, please visit BuyerZone's web site at http://www.buyerzone.com.
About Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners carries on one of the longest-standing private venture capital operations in the country. With more than a billion dollars under management, BVP has almost a century's experience of investing in and helping to build innovative, high-growth companies. Many leading innovators, including Parametric Technology, Ciena, VeriSign, Staples, and Gartner, selected BVP as their early-stage venture partner. BVP has offices in the national's top technology markets - California, Massachusetts, and New York.
For more information, please visit the Bessemer Venture Partners
web site at http://www.bvp.com.
About Commonwealth Capital Ventures
Founded in 1995 by a team of experienced venture capital investors, Commonwealth Capital Ventures is a leading early-stage venture capital firm focused on opportunities in the Communications Infrastructure and Software and Services sectors. With over $350 million of committed capital under management, the firm's partners have invested in more than 130 high-growth companies that are leaders in their industry categories. Commonwealth Capital Ventures' offices are located in Wellesley, MA.
For more information, please visit the Commonwealth Capital
Ventures web site at http://www.ccvlp.com.
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Press Contact:
Scotty Rill
617-868-5757 ext.112
srill@buyerzone.com
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