Telcontar Secures $10.6 Million in Venture Capital Funding
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Telcontar Secures $10.6 Million in Venture Capital Funding

Strong Up-Round Validates Telcontar's Leading Position in Rapidly Growing Location-Based Services Market

San Jose, CA - March 21, 2005 - Telcontar, a leading supplier of software and related services for the Location-Based Services (LBS) industry, today announced the close of a $10.6 million round of funding led by Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) of Palo Alto, California. Existing investors, Mobius Venture Capital and Cardinal Venture Capital, were also significant participants in the round. Telcontar will use the funds for increased sales and marketing, international expansion and new product development.

Telcontar powers the most successful Location-Based Services applications that are used by millions of consumers each day. These applications include mapping, driving directions, navigation, "local search", on-line yellow pages, tracking, trip planning and real-time traffic information. Telcontar’s clients include such leading companies as Yahoo!, Google, Ask Jeeves, Rand McNally, Motorola, Hutchison Mobile, Pharos, ATX, Appello, Networks In Motion and Televigation. The company’s specialty is providing high-volume, rapid response solutions that are ideal for real-time applications in the Internet and wireless markets, where scalability, speed and reliability are vital.

"The popularity of Location-Based Services is accelerating rapidly," said J. Kim Fennell, president and CEO of Telcontar. “Telcontar, with its long history of cutting edge technology, has a unique position in this growth market. Our new and existing investors share our vision for powering and delivering the most advanced LBS applications to a large, global market that will bring significant benefits to end users and revenue generating opportunities to our customers.”

Telcontar's Drill Down Server® (DDS) is one of the industry's premier software platforms for Location-Based Services. The DDS powers a variety of location-based applications by rapidly generating maps, driving directions and other spatial data. The applications can be delivered to multiple devices, including mobile phones, computer workstations, web browsers, PDAs, Pocket PCs, IPTV devices, and vehicle telematics units.

The company also announced the addition of Jeff Crowe of Norwest Venture Partners to its board of directors. "We’ve only begun to see the potential uses of Telcontar's technology in a wide variety of consumer applications, spanning the Internet, wireless and telematics markets," said Jeff Crowe, venture partner, Norwest Venture Partners. “Telcontar’s technology prowess lies within an area that is important to multiple industry players who have strategic interest in Location-Based Services. We look forward to working with the Telcontar team to further its partnerships and traction in the LBS marketplace.”

About Norwest Venture Partners
Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) has actively partnered with entrepreneurs to build significant businesses for more than 44 years. NVP focuses on early stage investments in information technology including: semiconductor and components, systems, software, services and consumer/Internet technologies. The firm currently manages more than $1.8 billion in venture capital out of its office in Palo Alto, California, USA.

NVP has funded over 350 companies since inception. Recent NVP transactions include Airespace (acquired by Cisco Systems), Resonext Communications (acquired by RF Micro Devices), Spinnaker Networks (acquired by Network Appliance) and Winphoria Networks (acquired by Motorola). NVP has also funded such market leaders as Actel Corporation, Brocade Communications, Cerent (acquired by Cisco Systems), Documentum, Extreme Networks, Forte Software (acquired by Sun Microsystems), PeopleSoft and Tivoli Systems (acquired by IBM). Additional information on Norwest Venture Partners is available at http://www.nvp.com.

About Mobius Venture Capital
Mobius Venture Capital works with the best entrepreneurs to create the most powerful companies of the Internet economy. Mobius Venture Capital has $2.5 billion under its management, over 150 leading Internet companies in its portfolio, and an unparalleled investment team of former CEOs and entrepreneurs, technology pioneers, senior executives from major technology corporations, and leaders from the investment banking community. Additional information on Mobius Venture Capital is available at http://www.mobiusvc.com

About Cardinal Venture Capital
Cardinal Venture Capital invests in early stage information technology companies, including enterprise software and services, internet infrastructure software, wireless applications, electronic payments and digital media. Cardinal's investing team helps build successful technology-based businesses by applying their extensive experience as entrepreneurs and operating managers. Cardinal Venture Capital is based in Menlo Park, California. Additional information on Cardinal Venture Capital is available at http://www.cardinalvc.com

About Telcontar
Telcontar is a recognized leader in the Location-Based Services (LBS) industry. Its geo-spatial software platform powers today’s most successful LBS applications including mapping, driving directions, navigation, “local search”, on-line yellow pages, tracking, trip planning, and real-time traffic information. Its specialty is providing high-volume, rapid response solutions ideal for Internet, wireless and telematics applications where scalability, speed and reliability are vital. Telcontar clients include Yahoo!, Google, Ask Jeeves, Rand McNally, Motorola, Hutchison Mobile, Pharos, ATX, Appello, Networks In Motion and Televigation. Telcontar’s application development tools enable customers to uniquely customize the look and feel of their applications to meet their market needs. Telcontar is privately held and headquartered in San Jose, California. For more information, please visit http://www.telcontar.com

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Telcontar
Erin Dempsey
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