NexTag.com Announces First Round Financing

Morgenthaler Ventures Backs Vision of Redefining a Deal on the Internet

SAN MATEO, Calif. August 9, 1999 - NexTag.com, Inc. today announced that it has closed its first round of financing in the amount of $4 million from Morgenthaler Ventures. Morgenthaler Ventures, a 30 year-old technology investment firm, has a strong track record in information technology investments including Internet and e-commerce, enterprise software, and communications. The funds will be used to support initial operations and marketing efforts, and to launch NexTag.com, the first online buying service where name brand sellers compete for buyers.

"Negotiating easily and simultaneously with name brand sellers to secure a great deal within minutes is a huge opportunity," said Gary Little, general partner of Morgenthaler Ventures. "NexTag.com represents the natural end-game for online deal making. We believe NexTag.com’s business strategy will be aggressively executed with NexTag.com’s vision, technology and management team."

"We wanted a firm that brought strategic value in addition to capital," said Purnendu Ojha, founder and CEO of NexTag.com. "We found that partnership and value with Morgenthaler Ventures and Gary Little."

The new transaction model developed by NexTag.com gives buyers unprecedented selection, convenience and price to quickly obtain a great deal from name brand sellers. To sellers, NexTag.com reduces transaction costs by enabling sellers to dynamically accept, decline or respond to buyer bids with bundles, complementary products or different prices. The core foundation of this model is a unique negotiation engine for which NexTag.com has filed several patents. Launched today, NexTag.com features over 100,000 computer products from name brand sellers and will expand into other product categories later this year.

Based in San Mateo, California, NexTag.com, Inc. is a privately held company with the mission to quickly and conveniently enable great deals between buyers and sellers. NexTag.com’s patent-pending technology enables name brand sellers to compete for buyers. NexTag.com will initially focus on computer products, but will move quickly into new product markets by January 2000. NexTag.com was founded in June 1998 and is funded by Morgenthaler Ventures. To use the NexTag.com buying service and find additional information about the company, visit www.NexTag.com.

NexTag Media Contact:
'pr' at nextag.com