Press Room

Press Room Main > Press Release Index > Press Release

Press Release

NOVAZONE RAISES $10.6 MILLION IN SERIES A FINANCING
AND NAMES INDUSTRY VETERANS TO EXECUTIVE TEAM

Foundation Capital and Keiretsu Forum Invest in Innovative Science-based Company Making Food and Water Safe and Fresh

LIVERMORE, Calif. − April 26, 2005 − Novazone, a leading provider of innovative ozone-based solutions to improve the safety and freshness of food and water, announced today that it closed its Series A round of financing and named two industry veterans to its management team, David Cope as Chief Marketing Officer, and George Prunty as Vice President of Sales. The financing was lead by Foundation Capital and accompanied by Keiretsu Forum, the largest North American angel investor network.

“We are pleased to complete the Series A financing with Foundation Capital and Keiretsu Forum,” said Paul White, President and Chief Executive Officer at Novazone. “Their investments provide a strong endorsement of our technology, market approach and business model, and enabling us to build a first-class organization.”

The $10.6 million in funds from the round will be used to expand sales, marketing and engineering efforts. As part of the financing, Warren Weiss will join Chairman Fred Grauer and Mr. White on Novazone’s board of directors.

“Keiretsu Forum members invested in Novazone due to its innovative products in a niche market and its strong market potential," said Randy Williams, Founder of Keiretsu Forum. “The company’s management team is experienced, successful, and communicate openly and often with investors thus securing member's confidence in their investment."

“Novazone has developed ozone-based purification solutions to kill organic contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, and mold spores without the use of toxic traditional chemical treatments,” said Mr. Weiss, General Partner at Foundation Capital. “We were attracted to the investment by Novazone’s technology, team, world-class customers such as Safeway, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and the real consumer and legislative market drivers that are demanding this type of offering.”

As Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Cope will oversee the company’s marketing and business development activities. With 25 years of marketing, business development, sales and engineering experience, Mr. Cope will add a new dimension and perspective to Novazone’s drive for profitable, top-line growth by building the Novazone brand.

Mr. Prunty, named Vice President of Sales, brings a wealth of knowledge and talent to Novazone, which stems from his background of over 20 years of sales management experience at Ecolab, providing chemical solutions to commercial markets. During his career, he held numerous senior level management positions and built successful sales teams.

About Novazone, Inc.
Novazone is a leading provider of innovative ozone-based solutions to improve the safety and freshness of food and water. Consumers around the world are demanding fresher and safer food and water products. With year-round, global sourcing, transportation and distribution of these products, comes an increase in the risk of both accidental and intentional contamination from microorganisms, pests and chemicals. Novazone couples applied food science with patented ozone technologies to provide an environmentally friendly means of reducing water and airborne pathogens without the use of harmful chemicals, making food and water safe and fresh naturally. The company incorporates an array of patented technologies into complete, automated systems with unsurpassed reliability and cost-effective operations. Customers include industry leaders such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Sun Pacific, Paramount Farms, Safeway, Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals have implemented Novazone’s ozone solutions. For more information, visit www.novazone.net.

About Foundation Capital
Founded in 1995, Foundation Capital is a venture capital firm committed to supporting entrepreneurs and their companies, targeting innovative opportunities in telecommunications and networking; Internet infrastructure; and enterprise software. Foundation Capital funds total over $1.1 billion and include Harvard, Yale, CalTech, the Hewlett Foundation and MacArthur Foundation as investors. Warren Weiss is a general partner and serves on the board of directors for ADEXS, MarkMonitor, Real Clear Technologies, Rearden Commerce, Silver Spring Networks, Itemfield and Novazone. For more information, visit www.foundationcapital.com or contact Samantha Finnegan (415) 392-8282, samantha@outcastpr.com.

About Keiretsu Forum
With 350 members, Keiretsu Forum is the largest North American angel investor network of capital, resources and deal flow. Keiretsu Forum members are accredited private equity investors, venture capitalists and corporate/institutional investors who invest in high-quality, diverse investment opportunities in emerging technologies, IT and software, life science/healthcare/biotech, real estate, media/entertainment and any segment with high-growth opportunity. Since September 2000, Keiretsu Forum members have invested in 67 companies with over $40MM. Keiretsu Forum has chapters in Northern California (San Francisco East Bay and Silicon Valley), Southern California (Westlake Village, Orange County, San Diego and Los Angeles), Boston/New England, Chicago/Midwest, Dallas/Fort Worth and Calgary, Canada. For more information, please visit www.keiretsuforum.com.

Contact:
Connie Bordanaro
Director of Marketing Communications
Novazone, Inc.
925.454.0303
cbordanaro@novazone.com