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Top Investors, Industry Talent Rally Behind Internet REIT
Friday, May 19, 2006
Contacts:
| Kari Moe Straley |
Leyl Master Black |
| Marketing Alchemist |
Marketing Alchemist |
| 415-215-6423 |
415-378-6395 |
| kari@marketingalchemist.com |
leyl@marketingalchemist.com |
Explosive Growth Attracts Funding from Maveron LLC, Perot Investments, Jacobson Family
Investments; Internet Pioneer Mark Britto Joins Board
HOUSTON, May 19, 2006 - Internet REIT (iREIT), a leading supplier of high-value Internet traffic
to advertisers, today announced that it has raised a new round of equity and debt financing led
by Maveron LLC, the venture firm co-founded by Dan Levitan and Starbucks Chairman Howard
Schultz. The round of funding also includes significant investments by existing investor
Jacobson Family Investments (JFI), as well as Perot Investments, the investment firm founded
by H. Ross Perot. With this round of funding, Dan Levitan, Managing Partner, Maveron LLC
and Steve Blasnik, President, Perot Investments join the Board of Directors.
iREIT is working with top domain name portfolio owners to build the world's largest, most
profitable and highest-quality portfolio of Internet domain names, with traffic on par with
the world's leading media properties. The company has completed over 50 portfolio transactions
in the past fifteen months, including the acquisition of the Netster.com web portal, Bands.com,
OfficeSupply.com and AfricanAmericans.com.
Traffic reaches iREIT's sites primarily through "direct navigation", the practice of locating
a Web site by typing directly into the browser's address bar. Direct navigation is one of
three ways companies such as Google are supplied with advertising traffic. With more than
400,000 domain properties that receive over 50 million visitors per month, iREIT is now a
leading supplier of Internet advertising traffic to Google.
"In fifteen months, we've taken the company from idea to profitability, amassed a substantial
portfolio of domains, and become a leading provider of traffic to the world's biggest search
engine. The quality of investors iREIT has attracted is strong validation for our model, our
team and our explosive growth," said Bob Martin, chief executive officer of iREIT.
"As a direct navigation leader, iREIT focuses on helping users find what they're looking for
in a way that is optimal for both the consumer and advertisers. We believe this consumer-focused
approach will transform the online experience and help put iREIT at the top of this rapidly
expanding market," said Dan Levitan, managing partner, Maveron LLC.
Internet Pioneer Mark Britto Joins the Board
Mark Britto, chief executive officer of Ingenio, has also joined iREIT's board. Britto brings
a combination of consumer technology and financial expertise to iREIT. Prior to Ingenio,
Britto was Amazon.com's Senior Vice President, Worldwide Services, Sales and Business Development,
where he was responsible for landmark deals with national brands such as Target, Borders Books,
and Circuit City. Britto joined Amazon.com in June 1999 as part of the acquisition of Accept.com,
which he co-founded in October 1998.
"While the Internet continues to attract a large share of the total advertising spend, advertisers
are becoming increasingly focused on traffic quality and ROI rather than just 'eyeballs' or
clicks," said Mark Britto, chief executive officer of Ingenio. "iREIT has the right team and the
best platform for generating high-quality traffic for advertisers."
Britto joins a growing team of industry talent that includes domain name pioneer and iREIT
co-founder Marc Ostrofsky. Ostrofsky coined the phrase: "Domain Names are the Real Estate
of the Internet" in 1995 and went on to sell the domain name "Business.com" for a world-record
$7.5 million. Others added to the iREIT team include Sid Parfait, a domain industry veteran
who joined the company when iREIT acquired his high-value portfolio; and Vince Claude,
an expert in domain systems architecture and development. Domain industry talent is a key
differentiator for iREIT in an increasingly crowded and complex market.
"iREIT has assembled a team of industry experts and entrepreneurs who understand both the
market and how to build a world-class company," said Stuart J. Rabin, Chairman of Internet
REIT. "The quality of our team and our proven approach to the business have enabled us to
secure significant capital and outstanding partners to pursue a very aggressive acquisition
and development strategy. The company has quickly become powerful force in online advertising."
About Internet REIT
Internet REIT (iREIT) is a leading supplier of high-value Internet traffic to advertisers. iREIT
is working with top domain name portfolio owners to build the world's largest, most profitable
and highest-quality portfolio of Internet domain names, with traffic on par with the world's
leading media properties. iREIT's portfolio of high-quality domains includes premier properties
such as the Netster.com portal, Bands.com, AfricanAmericans.com, NativeAmericans.com,
VietnamWar.com, OfficeSupply.com, and many others. iREIT is a privately held company based in
Houston, Texas. For more information about iREIT, please visit www.ireit.com. |
