Contact Information
Steve Poppe Matthew
Kraft
Fifth Generation Systems, Inc. Spector
and Associates
516.625.8900 x224 212.943.5858
steve.poppe@5g.com mkraft@spectorandassociates.net
Fifth Generation Systems,
Inc. Secures $5.3 Million in Series B Funding
VisiCalc
Co-Creator Dan Bricklin Joins Board of Directors
Roslyn,
N.Y., January 17, 2008 – Fifth Generation Systems, Inc. (5g), creators of Zude, the social computing
platform that provides users an unprecedented level of freedom and design
customization, announced today the completion of Series B financing, totaling
$5.3 million. Investors include Irwin Lieber and Barry Rubenstein of Wheatley
Partners, Persistency Capital, and Gund Investment, LLC., with additional
funding by Bergstein, LLC. 5g will use this new round of financing to accelerate product
development and expand its user base.
In
addition, 5g announced the appointment of Dan Bricklin, co-creator of VisiCalc,
and Barry Rubenstein of investment firm Wheatley Partners, to its board of
directors. They join current board members: Stephen Winningham, Managing
Director and Global Head of Financial Institutions for Lloyds TSB; Daniel
Bergstein, chair of Hastings, Janofsky & Walker’s International
Telecommunications and Media Practice Group; and Warren Thaler, president of
Gund Investment Corporation; in addition to co-founders Jim
McNiel and Steve Repetti.
“These
new additions to the board will help keep 5g at the forefront of business and
technological innovation.” said Jim McNiel, 5g CEO. “Dan Bricklin brings
incredibly deep software expertise to the table. Barry Rubenstein brings a wealth of
experience with tech ventures. Together, they add invaluable tech leadership to
our company.”
McNiel
also announced the appointment of technology entrepreneur Brian Young as senior
vice president of business development. Before joining 5g, Young was founder of
Hampton Technology Ventures, an early stage technology investor, as well as
founder and CEO of Thor Technologies, Inc. a pioneer in enterprise-provisioning
and access rights management software.
“With
this new round of financing, the addition of new board members and the
appointment of a business development veteran, an already fast-growing 5g is
better positioned than ever for greater growth and expansion,” said McNiel.
Board Members Enhance 5g’s
Tech Leadership
Board Member Dan Bricklin is currently president and founder of
Software Garden, Inc., a small consulting firm and developer of software
applications. He is best known for co-developing VisiCalc, the first electronic
spreadsheet, while he was a student at the
Barry
Rubenstein is general partner and co-founder of Wheatley Partners. He has been
a founder of several technology companies. He
co-founded Woodland Venture Fund in 1976 and Seneca Ventures in 1979. Together,
these partnerships have invested in more than 200 private and small
capitalization public technology companies. Mr. Rubenstein was also a general
partner of 21st Century Partners, a private equity partnership.
Zude – A
Platform for Personal Expression
5g’s
social computing platform, Zude, provides users an unprecedented level of
freedom and creativity. Zude’s groundbreaking drag-and-drop technology lets
users build countless web pages and place video, pictures and text anywhere.
Offering a complete set of networking tools, Zude connects users in ways never
possible before.
In
addition to making it easier to create a personalized Web presence, Zude
provides a unique drag and drop interface that frees users from having to use
the rigid forms, profiles and templates that constitute most social networking
applications. This flexibility empowers them to fully express themselves on the
Web and develop deeper connections between themselves and their friends and
family.
About Fifth Generation Systems, Inc. (5g)
Fifth Generation Systems, Inc. (5g) is a
The company’s Web 2.0 application, Zude, is a new
social computing platform offering users an unprecedented level of freedom and
design customization. Using an endless supply of free web pages, groundbreaking
drag-and-drop technology and a complete set of social networking features,
users can create a media-rich website experience to share with the world.