VANCOUVER, British Columbia – September 26, 2000 – ActiveState, a leading provider of Internet programming software and services, announced the closure of its latest round of financing, which included lead funding by NY venture capital firm Opticality Ventures, which specializes in backing open source firms. ActiveState also received strategic investments from ActiveState Board Member and Red Hat CTO Michael Tiemann; Nick Bedford, Head of German Equity Sales for a German investment banking firm; and renowned members of Vancouver's high tech community.
"We're delighted to have such a depth of international and local backing and for the confidence our investors have shown in us by reinvesting", said Dick Hardt, Founder & CEO, ActiveState. "Opticality is an ideal partner for ActiveState, they understand the open source opportunity. As of course does Michael Tiemann, whose extensive experience with Cygnus and Red Hat is a great resource."
"ActiveState sets the standard for delivering high quality tools to the Perl and Python communities. Their dedication to hiring top notch developers ensures their success," said Hadar Pedhazur, Founder & Principal, Opticality Ventures. "I'm pleased to be associated with a company that understands its mission and produces world-class products."
Prominent members of Vancouver's high tech community also participated in this round. They include: Matt Dion, Director New Business Development, Seagate Software; Kevin Huscroft, Vice President R&D & CTO, PMC-Sierra; Haig Farris, President, Fractal Capital; and Peter A. Allard, Executive, Petrea Investments. ActiveState's landlord, Reliance Holdings, is also an investor.
"ActiveState is poised to profit from the tremendous expansion of the Internet and open source technologies", said Haig Farris, President, Fractal Capital. "We are enthusiastic about our ongoing relationship and are pleased with their progress in revenue, growth, profitability, new products and customers."
"As the building owners of ActiveState's new flagship premises, we saw an innovative opportunity, through share ownership, to cost effectively reduce the risk of taking on an early stage open source high tech firm as a major tenant", said Jon Stovell, General Manager, Reliance Holdings. "We will see more of these Silicon Valley type approaches to securing a lease, as Vancouver increasingly becomes a center for high tech."
"ActiveState's expertise and relationships with both the open source and business communities sets them apart from other programming software companies", said Michael Tiemann, CTO, Red Hat. "The Company is well positioned to capitalize on the pent-up demand for software and services that enables programmer productivity and skills."
ActiveState completed an earlier Angel investment last winter, of which both Fractal Capital and Kevin Huscroft were participants. Proceeds and expertise from the current round of financing will be used to pursue strategic near term objectives, including the expansion of ActiveState's management team, opening a Seattle office, and increased marketing and sales efforts.
