HOTBAR.COM COMPLETES ITS $14.5 MILLION SECOND ROUND OF FINANCING WITH AN
ADDITIONAL $3.5 MILLION FROM C.E. UNTERBERG, TOWBIN PRIVATE EQUITY PARTNERS
C.E. Unterberg, Towbin Private Equity Partners Total Investment in Hotbar Reaches $5 Million
April 4, 2001 (New York, NY) - Hotbar.com, your portable portal, announced today the completion
of their $14.5 million second round of financing, capped by a $3.5 million investment from
C.E. Unterberg, Towbin Private Equity Partners. This announcement comes on the heels of securing
a total of $11 million early in Hotbar's second round, co-led by Deutsche Banc and C.E.
Unterberg, Towbin Private Equity Partners.
Says C.E. Unterberg, Towbin Private Equity Partners Managing Director and Hotbar
Board Member, Vered Sharon, of the investment, " What I believe we are experiencing
with Internet stocks is a pendulum effect - they have been over-hyped, and now they are
being under-hyped. Hotbar, a company that has already generated revenues as an early stage
Internet company, looks to be one of the Web mainstays. I am proud to be a part of the
Hotbar team."
The most recent investment adds to Hotbar's second round of financing for a combined total
of $14.5 million that Hotbar has raised in the past three months. The investment is another
coup in a successful month that saw solid revenues and an expanded user base.
"The future plans are to grow steadily, keep a tight reign on the budget, concentrate on
generating revenues and at the end of Q4 reach profitability," says Hotbar CEO and Co-founder Oren
Dobronsky. "My vision is that Hotbar, together with other solid dot com companies,
will build the strong Internet economy that all of us can believe in."
Hotbar has also recently announced that Media Metrix ranked Hotbar.com as the 8th most downloaded software
on the Web, a feat made more spectacular without any marketing dollars spent in the last year.
To date, Hotbar has amassed over 11 million downloads.
This is the second round of investments in Hotbar.com Inc. The first round was
completed in November of 1999, with a 3 million dollar investment by Eurofund, backed by DaimlerChrysler,
Deutsche Telekom, Lockheed Martin Corporation and Bertelsmann, as well as Technorov, backed
by Bank Leumi Israel.
About Hotbar
Founded in December 1999 with a vision to change the way people browse the Web, the Hotbar toolbar
is a light dynamic browser plug-in that enhances and personalizes the users' surfing experience, while successfully
branding and exposing third-party content, service and technology partners.
Hotbar offers e-businesses a new and creative way to cut through Web clutter and effectively reach
an enormous, globally distributed audience almost overnight. By partnering with Hotbar, these Web sites
achieve unmatched branding by integrating into the browser. Hotbar is a platform that
delivers, and business models are based on performance. For the individual Hotbar user,
this translates into a more personalized, enhanced surfing experience while fulfilling a
basic human need for aesthetics and fun; for the e-business, a more profitable Internet.
Partners who have already recognized Hotbar's value proposition include: CNET, MySimon,
Half.com, CNNSI, McAfee, Dealtime and Uproar.
Hotbar is a privately held company with sales and marketing based in New York
City and research and development in Tel Aviv, Israel.
CEO Oren Dobronsky and President Gabriella Karni founded the company in December 1999.
For more information, please visit www.hotbar.com.
About C.E. Unterberg, Towbin Private Equity Partners II
C.E. Unterberg, Towbin Private Equity Partners is a New York-based fund that specializes in
industry-defining software, communications and technology companies. Portfolio investments include
Hotbar.com, PD-LD, Interelate, AristaSoft, Reasoning and Orbit.
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