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SquareTrade Secures $9 Million In Second Round of Venture Funding
SAN FRANCISCO - April 17, 2000 - SquareTrade, the premier online dispute
resolution service, today announced a $9 million round of funding.
This venture capital funding, led by Weston Presidio Capital and Chase
Capital Partners, will be used for product development, marketing and
expansion of SquareTrade's dispute resolution service into a number of
significant e-commerce business and consumer marketplaces.
In addition, this second round of funding for the company includes new
investor Staenberg Private Equity as well as existing investors Draper
Richards, Argus Capital, partners of Clayton Dubilier Rice, Thomas Layton
(former President and co-founder of Citysearch) and European-based GIP
Partners. SquareTrade also announced that Paul V. Roberts, principal of
Chase Capital Partners, and Tom Patterson, general partner of Weston
Presidio will join SquareTrade's board of directors.
"By combining its patent-pending technology and the expertise of its
international network of mediators, SquareTrade is pioneering new ways
for online buyers and sellers to feel more confident transacting online,"
says Tom Patterson, general partner of Weston Presidio. "Weston Presidio
is pleased to be a lead investor in a company that has developed such a
unique and critical e-commerce business."
SquareTrade recently announced its online dispute resolution offering via
the successful launch of a pilot program to customers of eBay, the world's
leading person-to-person online trading community. Through this pilot
program, buyers and sellers have accessed SquareTrade's patent-pending
technology and network of trained mediators to resolve a wide variety of
disputes efficiently and effectively.
"SquareTrade's goal is to provide the support infrastructure for all
transactions, business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer,"
says SquareTrade CEO Steve Abernethy. "This second round of venture
funding will allow us to carry out key investments in business development
and expand our product features and marketing efforts into multiple
business-to-business marketplaces."
"SquareTrade is firmly positioned as a leader in driving one of the key
pieces of infrastructure necessary for the continued growth of e-commerce,"
says Paul V. Roberts, principal of Chase Capital Partners. "We are proud
to be an investor in SquareTrade as it helps to build trust in transactions
and creates a unique way to resolve disputes online."
About SquareTrade
SquareTrade provides the premier online dispute resolution service.
Fair, accessible and Web-based, SquareTrade's critical Internet
infrastructure gives buyers and sellers the confidence they need to
conduct consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and
business-to-business e-commerce transactions. Founded in 1999,
SquareTrade has an expanding network today comprised of more than 150
trained mediators and arbitrators. SquareTrade's advisory board of
leading experts in cyberlaw and alternative dispute resolution include
Roger Fisher, Professor Emeritus at Harvard Law School,
Founder/Director of the Harvard Negotiation Project and author of
"Getting to Yes"; David Johnson, Partner, Wilmer Cutler & Pickering,
Washington, D.C. and ex-Chairman, Electronic Frontier Foundation;
Jonathan Zittrain, Executive Director, Berkman Center for Internet and
Society, Harvard Law School; and Ethan Katsh, Co-Director, Center for
Dispute Resolution and Information Technology, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst. Its offices are based in San Francisco, CA.
For more information, employment opportunities or to contact
SquareTrade representatives, visit the Website at
www.squaretrade.com.
About Chase Capital Partners
Chase Capital Partners (CCP) is a global private equity partnership
with over $16 billion under management. CCP has been a leading provider
of private equity capital since its inception in 1984 and is a
diversified investor in most major industries. To date, CCP has closed
more than 950 individual transactions in North America, Europe, Asia
and Latin America including over 100 investments in technology and
communications companies. Recent investments include Digital Island,
Stamps.com, Telecorp PCS, Narus, Triton PCS, eYada.com, Norigen, Viatel,
SBAsoft, FusionOne, Driveway, How2TV and Starmedia. CCP's primary
limited partner is The Chase Manhattan Corporation, one of the largest
bank holding companies in the United States.
About Weston Presidio Capital
Weston Presidio Capital is an investment partnership with over $900 million
in committed capital. Weston Presidio operates from offices in San Francisco
and Boston and their professionals collectively have more 130 years of
private experience, having worked with over 200 companies to achieve their
business objectives. Companies in Weston Presidio's portfolio include
Mapquest, Vitria, Quidnunc, Virage, Red Envelope, JetBlue Airways and Wild
Oats Markets. More information can be found at
www.westonpresidio.com.
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