NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 14, 2003–firstRain, Inc., the leading business monitoring software and solutions provider, today announced that it has attracted $8 million of Series B funding. Newinvestor Ampersand Ventures led the round, joining existing investors St Paul Ventures, Diamondhead Ventures and Myriad Investments.
The company also announced the appointment of Marc Dulude and Charles Yie of Ampersand Ventures to the firstRain Board of Directors, with Dulude assuming the role of Chairman. Formerly President and CEO of Moldflow, Dulude brings more than 11 years experience as a senior information technology executive to firstRain, including serving as Senior VP of Marketing at Parametric Technology and in various positions at Nortel Networks. Steven C. Walske, firstRain’s former Chairman, will remain on the board as a Director.
firstRain will use the additional funds to continue its sales and marketing efforts, strengthen its market leadership, and to further develop its platform and solutions suite. Many of the world’s leading corporations deploy firstRain business monitoring, market intelligence, and portal publishing solutions. firstRain solutions accelerate the pace and quality of critical business decisions by providing users with fresh, relevant, high-quality information and events, while reducing the cost and difficulty of managing multiple data sources from both inside and outside of the corporate firewall.
The firstRain platform comprises three products:
— discoveryServer, which monitors both ‘known’ and ‘unknown’
sources of information, acting as a crawler and vertical
search engine;
— viewServer, which provides access to applications and content
by enabling users to extract applications or content and
re-use them as portlets, mobile applications, or even Web
Services; and
— eventServer, a publish-subscribe messaging system that
provides XML content-based routing. Based on open standards,
eventServer can handle thousands of subscriptions
simultaneously.
These products are used to build solutions that are accessed via standard desktop clients, mobile devices, corporate portals, and dashboards.
“I am proud to announce the successful completion of our Series B round and am pleased to add the expertise of both Marc and Charlie to our Board,” said Gaurav Rewari, CEO of firstRain. “At a time when many startup companies are closing their doors and the financing environment is bleak, this investment is a testament to our technology developments as well as to our success in securing an impressive roster of the leading companies in the technology, financial services, pharmaceutical and manufacturing fields as customers,” he added.
“firstRain is one of the most exciting software companies I have seen in some time, with the team and technology to provide innovative solutions that will change how enterprises do business,” said Marc Dulude of Ampersand Ventures. “I have a strong belief that their products solve pressing business problems, which will enable them to gain real traction with top-tier customers,” he added.
About firstRain
firstRain is the leading provider of business monitoring software and solutions that efficiently connect people, systems, and information, improving their performance and providing greater insight into their marketplace. The firstRain platform comprises three products, viewServer, discoveryServer, and eventServer, that enable large corporations to monitor, transform, filter, and route critical business information to employees who need it. Founded in July 2000, firstRain is a private, venture-backed company with headquarters in New York City. For more information on firstRain products and services, please visit firstRain at www.firstRain.com.
About Ampersand Ventures
Ampersand Ventures is a private equity firm based in Wellesley, Massachusetts and San Diego, California. Founded in 1988 as a buyout of PaineWebber’s venture capital business, it manages more than $500 million targeted at four sectors: information technology, telecommunications, life sciences, and specialty materials and chemicals. Public companies backed by Ampersand include ACLARA BioSciences (NASDAQ: ACLA), Moldflow (NASDAQ: MFLO), TriPath Imaging (NASDAQ: TPTH), and VI Technologies (NASDAQ: VITX). Additional information about Ampersand Ventures can be found at www.ampersandventures.com.
About St. Paul Venture Capital
St. Paul Venture Capital is one of the largest early-stage venture capital funds in the United States with $3.0 billion in committed capital and offices in Minneapolis, Boston and Silicon Valley. The firm, founded in 1988, invests primarily in the areas of Communications, Business Applications and Services, Business Internet, Consumer Technology and Health Care. For more information, visit the firm’s Web site at www.stpaulvc.com.
About Diamondhead Ventures
Diamondhead Ventures (DhVen) focuses on early-stage Internet infrastructure and enterprise software investments spinning out of corporations and leading research universities. Diamondhead Ventures, which manages $140 million in committed capital, actively engages with portfolio companies using a hands-on consultative approach to support all areas of business operations. For more information, visit www.dhven.com.
About Myriad Investments
Myriad Investments was formed in 2000 as a fund focusing exclusively on early stage software companies. The principals of Myriad Investments bring a wealth of experience in software, Internet, investment banking, and venture capital. The business model for engagement is close participation with management, and investment jointly with traditional venture capital firms.
