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PointBase Nets $3.6 Million In Second Round Financing
Oracle Corp. co-founder's new startup has Java embedded databases roaring through successful beta; will use new cash to grease sales gears for market rollout
SAN MATEO, CA, April 26, 1999 — Bruce Scott, co-founder of Oracle Corp. and Gupta Technology (now Centura Software), today announced that his latest startup, PointBase (formerly DataBahn), has received $3.6 million in second-round financing. This investment was led by Aspen Ventures located in Los Altos, CA. Also participating in this round of financing are AVI Capital and DataMirror. Aspen Ventures and AVI Capital both specialize in early-stage investments in high-technology companies positioned for breakout performance in high-growth segments of the information technologies market. DataMirror, based in Toronto, Canada, is also a strategic partner.
"Aspen Ventures believes that the explosive growth in remote computing by mobile workers is building an important long-term market for PointBase's embedded Java database. We are extremely impressed with Bruce and the team he is assembling," said David Crockett, a partner at Aspen Ventures.
"We know a good thing when we see it," said Nigel Stokes, Chairman, President and CEO of DataMirror, which initially invested $1.9 million in PointBase's first round of funding last year.
In addition, said Stokes, DataMirror and PointBase are continuing a strategic co-development agreement to embed DataMirror's replication technology in the PointBase family of database products. DataMirror's software ensures seamless data sharing between PointBase and corporate databases.
"We've increased our stake in PointBase because we're convinced they have the technology to leapfrog competitors in the embedded database market, and the business model and senior management team to produce a major corporate success story," said Stokes.
All the Pieces Are in Place for Breakout Success
In view of the imminent launch of its first two products, Scott said, PointBase will use the new funds to continue to develop its sales channels and marketing infrastructure.
The funding announcement comes close on the heels of the formal launch of the new company, which has developed a family of portable 100% Pure Java™ embedded database products with the industry's first corporate data synchronization capability. They are designed for Internet applications supporting e-commerce, Web-based mobile users, and Internet devices such as Web/cable set-top boxes. Requiring as little as 270 KB of RAM, PointBase embedded database products provide robust local data access, two-way data replication with most major enterprise corporate databases, and self-configuring, self-managing and automated recovery capabilities. These features ensure the lowest cost of ownership, near-zero administration, ease-of-use and portability required by PointBase's target markets.
Beta releases of PointBase's embedded databases were delivered to customers ahead of schedule, indicating an unusually strong development team. That's to be expected, considering the founders' pedigrees. Besides co-founding Oracle and co-authoring the first three versions of the Oracle database, Scott also co-founded Gupta Technology (now Centura Software), where he conceived and developed the first SQL database designed for PC LANs. His co-founder and Vice President of Engineering, Jeff Richey, has a long track record of developing enterprise databases, including Oracle, DB2 and Sybase.
About PointBase
The PointBase family of 100% Pure Java embedded data management products enables a new class of Java-based networked applications to support e-commerce, Web-based mobile workers, and Internet devices such as Web/cable set-top boxes. PointBase provides the lowest cost of ownership by delivering robust, platform-independent data storage with breakthroughs in ease of use, data replication, near-zero administration, and portability. PointBase was established in 1998 by Bruce Scott, co-founder of Oracle Corporation and Gupta/Centura Software, and Jeff Richey, one of the key developers of the Sybase SQL database server. The management team includes industry veterans from IBM, Oracle, Sybase, Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems. More information about PointBase is available on the world wide web at http://www.pointbase.com.
Note to Editors — PointBase is a trademark of PointBase All other product, trademark, company or service names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
For Details, Contact:
Chris Lalli
UpStart Communications
(510) 420-7283
clalli@upstart.com
Art Monk
PointBase
(650) 294-7235
art.monk@pointbase.com
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