Monday, February 5, 2001

Cordova Teams With e-conomyVentures To Aggressively Pursue Seed-Stage Start-Ups


ATLANTA, Ga. -- Venture-capital firm Cordova Ventures has affiliated with Atlanta's e-conomyVentures to help early-stage seed companies obtain funding and position them for market entry.

Launched in November, e-conomyVentures is a partnership of six Atlanta service providers: The Resource Forum, law firm Arnall Golden Gregory, software developer BlueShift, Cordova Ventures, accounting firm HA&W Habif, Arogeti and Wynne, and iD8 Marketing.

Seed-stage entrepreneurs who qualify for entry into the e-conomyVentures "pipeline" receive a fully integrated offering of services to include strategy, marketing, technology, legal and accounting. Each service is delivered as appropriate and when needed to prepare the company for the next level of development and greatly enhance its chances to secure early-stage funding. As the company passes through the pipeline, Cordova Ventures is fully aware of the company's business model and can provide valuable input throughout the process and potentially facilitate or fund the next round of capital.

"Cordova Ventures adds significant value to our seed-stage pipeline," said Allan DeNiro, who serves as president of both The Resource Forum and e-conomyVentures. "The expert partners of e-conomyVentures work with the very early seed-stage entrepreneur in an integrated fashion to ensure that the company has a solid business model before seeking funding. Now we have Cordova Ventures involved to potentially fund those companies that are accepted into our model."

Frank X. Dalton of Cordova Ventures said e-conomyVentures is "valuable because it provides an economic and thorough way for an entrepreneur to transform an idea into a potentially fundable concept or business ready for the next level of investors. Many entrepreneurs spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for a plan and strategy that is not fundable or presents little opportunity for success."

To participate in the e-conomyVentures pipeline, entrepreneurs must first submit their business ideas for review. e-conomyVentures screens the entrepreneur's idea to determine whether it is consistent with the e-conomyVentures development profile. If accepted, the company pays minimum fees over time and a small portion of equity commensurate with the services provided.

e-conomyVentures companies can also "nest" at The Resource Forum as hundreds of others already do, but that is not a requirement.

About the e-conomyVentures Partners:

• The Resource Forum (www.resourceforum.com ) is a first-of-its-kind private business club for technology start-ups, entrepreneurs and small businesses. It is the lead shareholder and creator of e-conomyVentures.
  
• Arnall Golden Gregory (www.agg.com ) is a 51-year-old Atlanta law firm with an extensive track record of working with emerging companies.
  
• BlueShift Inc. (www.blueshift.com ) is a leading custom software development and offshore programming firm with a subsidiary that specializes in working with Internet startups.
  
• Cordova Ventures (www.cordovaventures.com ) is an Atlanta-based venture capital firm that manages approximately $260 million of committed capital in seven funds. It is one of the largest and most experienced venture firms in the Southeast.
  
• HA&W, Habif, Arogeti and Wynne, LLP (www.hawcpa.com ), is one of the largest independent accounting firms in Atlanta and one of the top 65 accounting and consulting firms in the United States.
  
• iD8 (www.id8marketing.com ) is a leading integrated marketing and branding firm that works with many companies of various sizes and pursuits to profitably build their businesses.
  

For More Information Contact:

Allan DeNiro E-conomyVentures/The Resource Forum allan@ResourceForum.com 404-720-1020

Thad Slaton Hayslett Sorrel tslaton@hayslettsorrel.com (770) 522-8855

> Review recent activities and accomplishments by our attorneys