|
|
 |

Media Contacts:
George Dannecker, Vette Corp.
603-792-3460, gdannecker@vettecorp.com
Katja Gehrt, 3i US
650-470-3210, katja_gehrt@3i.com
Luciana Castro, Kodiak Venture Partners
781-672-2500, luciana@kodiakvp.com
Molly Gillis, General Catalyst Partners
617-234-7028, mgillis@generalcatalyst.com
Kodiak Venture Partners and General Catalyst Partners Lead $9 Million
Investment in Vette
Thermal management solutions provider to use first round of financing for global
expansion
Manchester, NH - July 26, 2004 - Vette Corp., a provider of thermal
management solutions, today announced it has completed a Series A
round of financing, co-led by General Catalyst Partners and seed investor
Kodiak Venture Partners. This new capital will be used for global
expansion and brings Vette's total funding to $9.4 million.
"The involvement and support from such highly regarded investors is a tremendous
endorsement of our technology, our business strategy and our team," said George
Dannecker, CEO, Vette. "With thermal management issues impacting the development
cycles of electronic products in a wide array of major industries worldwide, our ability to
serve a global marketplace with the quality service and support that only a local presence
can provide is vital. This funding will enable us to aggressively expand our global
presence."
Vette's thermal management technologies manage and remove the unwanted heat that
diminishes the performance of electronic products. Increases in silicon and system
integration, higher processing speeds and frequencies, smaller form factors, more
sophisticated power requirements and other advances in chip technology are creating
increasing heat dissipation problems in electronic and electrical components and systems.
As electronic systems increase in functionality and complexity, heat-related factors have
a greater impact on development cost and time-to-market, driving the demand for the
thermal solutions Vette provides.
"Vette's thermal management solutions are fundamentally important to the future of
major industry segments such as computers, semiconductors, IT/communications, and
industrial controls," said Dave Furneaux, a founder and managing general partner,
Kodiak Venture Partners and General Catalyst Partners Lead $9 Million Investment in Vette-p 2 of 3
Kodiak Venture Partners. "The company's exceptional global market opportunity was a
key driver in our decision to provide Vette's seed funding as the company's formation
investor and to co-lead this first round of funding. Further, the company has a seasoned,
proven management team that we have successfully worked with before and that knows
the industry. This winning combination provides a solid foundation for the company's
future growth and success."
Vette's CEO, George Dannecker, was formerly president of Aavid Thermal
Technologies. Ron Borelli, Chairman of Vette's Board of Directors, served as Aavid
Thermal's CEO and chairman. Together, Dannecker and Borelli built Aavid Thermal
into the world's largest and most profitable heat sink company, bringing the venture from
$35 million to more than $300 million in revenues in less than six years.
"The Vette team recognized and is executing on an outstanding opportunity that exists
due to the strong growth and fragmented state of the current global thermal marketplace,"
said John Simon, managing director, General Catalyst Partners. "In our view, the thermal
solutions marketplace is ripe for a "transformation" involving the new global platform
that Vette offers its customers. Thermal issues are multiplying rapidly due to a
combination of increased electronic system complexity and the resurgence of the
semiconductor industry. Vette's strategy of becoming the only vertically-integrated,
mission-critical thermal management solutions company is exactly what the global
customer base is demanding."
Both Dave Furneaux of Kodiak and John Simon of General Catalyst will join Dannecker
and Borelli on the company's board.
About Vette Corp.
Vette Corp. is a rapidly growing venture-backed global company that
specializes in solving thermal challenges in electronic cooling for
the leading OEMs in both the computer and industrial industries. With
company owned Asian-based manufacturing of heat sinks and fans, coupled
with their advanced applications and design teams, Vette Corp. offers
their global customers the lowest cost, highest quality technology
solutions for their most complex thermal problems. For more information,
visit: www.vettecorp.com.
About General Catalyst Partners
General Catalyst Partners is a private equity firm that invests in exceptional
entrepreneurs and technical founders who are building the software solution and
technology platform companies that will lead innovation and transform industries.
Founded in 2000, General Catalyst Partners leverages its principals' extensive
operational, business development and technological expertise to provide portfolio
companies with a catalyst for success through business building and partnership
development assistance. General Catalyst is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass.
For more information, please visit: http://www.generalcatalyst.com.
Kodiak Venture Partners is a Waltham, Massachusetts-based venture capital firm
focused on seed and early stage investments in emerging communications/IT,
semiconductor and software companies. With a focus in the eastern regions of the
U.S. and Canada, Kodiak Venture Partners builds relationships with entrepreneurs
seeking accelerated market success. Kodiak's investment partners are successful
high-technology business entrepreneurs who take a high-impact, hands-on approach
to forming, operating, building and funding market leaders. For more information, visit www.kodiakvp.com.
|
|