Rustic Canyon in the News

GoFish Relaunches as Betawave - Introduces New Model of Attention Based Media

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News Date: 
01/19/2009
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SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following a $22.5 million financing last month, GoFish Corporation reported today that it is relaunching as Betawave Corporation (OTCBB:GOFH) (www.betawave.com), the industry’s first attention based media company. The name change to Betawave, a cognitive term for the mind state of active concentration, reflects the company’s belief that consumer attention will become the new economic basis for brand media.
Betawave focuses exclusively on the highest attention span media environments as measured by time spent per month, time spent per page and receptivity to brand advertising. This approach, coupled with an emphasis on immersive advertising products, allows Betawave to weave brands into the fabric of consumer experiences and deliver measurable results that far exceed industry norms.
“Historically, the portals have been the only options for big brands to reach big audiences online,” says Betawave CEO, Matt Freeman. “Unfortunately, the portals have largely devolved into utility environments that offer reach rather than engagement – more tonnage than attention. We want to create an alternative for brand advertisers who are seeking both scale and attention – at a price that isn’t artificially inflated.”
Betawave’s transparent portfolio of casual gaming, virtual world, social play and entertainment publishers delivers scale with a unique monthly audience of 25 million domestically and 69 million worldwide, and attention with an average audience engagement of more than 54 minutes per month*.
As measured by minutes of consumer attention, Betawave is the world’s largest pure play digital media company for Youth (6-17) and Moms and a rapidly growing force in 18-34 demographics.
Betawave’s platform is specifically designed to support highly-innovative and entertaining campaigns (ones that consumers actually enjoy rather than ignore) like advergames, virtual world integrations, rich media and video at a level of scale and accountability that befits major marketers. “The basic idea is to aggregate audiences that are relaxed and paying attention, and then help brands make an attention grabbing contribution to that consumer experience,” says Mr. Freeman.
“We offer brand advertisers a simple solution based not just on how many people we reach, but on how much interest we generate,” concludes Mr. Freeman. “Brand advertisers deserve the
same level of accountability as direct marketers. We are simply applying that same performance focus to brand-friendly media environments.”
Betawave Corporation (www.betawave.com) (OTCBB:GOFH), headquartered in San Francisco and New York with sales offices in Los Angeles and Chicago, is a leading entertainment and media company focused on brand immersion experiences that reach consumers in a deeply engaged state of mind. Betawave specializes in aggregating and distributing premium content on a large network of quality sites for which Betawave is the exclusive brand advertising monetization partner. The Betawave portfolio of publishers reaches over 25 million unduplicated online users domestically and 69 million worldwide.* It ranks as the third largest online U.S. youth opportunity and a top five ‘mom’ opportunity for blue-chip advertisers.
*Source: Comscore Media Metrix Media Trend (with duplication), December 2008.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements relating to Betawave’s expected growth in future periods and other statements identified by words, such as “projects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “will,” and “would,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Betawave to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Actual events may differ materially from those mentioned in these forward-looking statements because of a number of risks and uncertainties. Discussion of factors affecting Betawave’s business and prospects is contained in Betawave’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Betawave undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required to do so by the securities laws. Investors are referred to the full discussion of risks and uncertainties associated with forward-looking statements and the discussion of risk factors contained in the Betawave’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available on a website maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
Contacts
Betawave Corporation David Lorie, 415-738-8706 General Counsel (Investor Relations) dlorie@betawave.com or George H. Simpson, 203-521-0352 (Press) george@georgesimpson.com

GoFish Morphs Into Betawave

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01/19/2009
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GoFish Morphs Into Betawave
by Tanya Irwin, 2 hours ago
An announcement that GoFish Corp. is changing its name to Betawave in order to shift its emphasis to attention-based engagement metrics is expected today.
Matt Freeman, 39, who joined digital media and entertainment company GoFish in June, remains CEO of Betawave. Company headquarters will remain in San Francisco.
Freeman previously was CEO at Omnicom's Tribal DDB Worldwide. A self-proclaimed entrepreneur, Freeman founded that company in 1998 when it launched as the digital arm of DDB. He was recruited from Modem Media by Ken Kaess and Keith Reinhard, who were DDB's CEO and chairman at the time.
GoFish secured $22.5 million in private placement financing in December led by Panorama Capital, Rustic Canyon Partners and Rembrandt Venture Partners. The company provides online services including virtual worlds, advergames, and safe communities for youth and their parents by aggregating and distributing online content across a network of Web sites for which GoFish is the exclusive brand advertising partner.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=98644

GoFish Rebrands As Betawave

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01/19/2009
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GoFish Corporation announced today that it had relaunched as Betawave Corporation. GoFish had built a portfolio of represented youth sites with a large emphasis on virtual worlds. The company says that the rebranding--and the reference to the Beta state of consciousness--reflects its commitment to advertising in contexts that promote engagement and attention over pure reach and pageviews. Betawave combines both with a total reach of 69 million unique users per month around the world averaging 54 minutes each month on Betawave partner properties. The rebranding follows a $22.5 million round of financing in Decemeber.

“The basic idea is to aggregate audiences that are relaxed and paying attention, and then help brands make an attention grabbing contribution to that consumer experience,” Betawave CEO Matt Freeman said in a statement. “We offer brand advertisers a simple solution based not just on how many people we reach, but on how much interest we generate. Brand advertisers deserve the same level of accountability as direct marketers. We are simply applying that same performance focus to brand-friendly media environments

GoFish Rebrands As Betawave

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01/19/2009
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OTCBB-traded kids media company GoFish is changing its name and altering its business model. The company, which has offices in San Francisco and New York, is rebranding as Betawave, which is a term associated with brain activity. The name reflects the change in focus. Instead of concentrating on kids-themed media, Betawave says it will try to create new kinds of portals—media environments that demand users’ time. In a statement, CEO Matt Freeman described Betawave’s attempts to evolve from portals, saying that where portals are concerned with reach, the sites formed by Betawave will try to stress engagement.

Betawave will pick up from GoFish’s portfolio of casual gaming, virtual world, social play and entertainment publishers. The move follows last month’s $22.5 million financing, which erased the company’s 14.5 million debt burden. The proceeds also went to hiring additional staff in sales and marketing.

"Start-up lists top Web celebrities of 2008"

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Los Angeles Times
News Date: 
01/09/2009
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Introducing the most popular Internet celebrities of last year: Smosh.

If you haven’t heard of the comedy duo from Carmichael, Calif., you’re not alone. But Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla host the No. 3 most-subscribed-to video channel on YouTube. IStardom, a Web start-up that tracks Internet celebrity, declared Smosh the most popular name in online entertainment of 2008…YouTube appears to be weighted more heavily in iStardom’s celeb rankings. But the service does take other online social tools, such as Twitter, MySpace and Facebook, into account.

The fact that we’re even talking about this just goes to show that social media is a lot like a popularity contest. But when the kids sitting at the “cool” lunchroom table are a couple guys who dress up as cardboard box men…it should give a glimmer of hope to any average Joe.

GoFish Corporation Secures $22.5 Million Financing

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News Date: 
12/04/2008
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Investment Fuels Business Expansion


SAN FRANCISCO- December 4, 2008 - GoFish Corporation (OTCBB: GOFH, www.gofishcorp.com), a leading digital media company, today announced that it has secured $22.5 million in a private placement financing led by Panorama Capital, Rustic Canyon Partners and Rembrandt Venture Partners.

The company will use the proceeds to retire its debt, further accelerate the growth of its immersive media solutions and continue expansion of its sales and marketing team.

With audience share growth that has outpaced its peers by 300%, GoFish now reaches a monthly average of 69 million unique visitors globally and 25 million domestically. The third quarter of 2008 marked the second consecutive quarter of approximately 100% revenue growth over the prior quarter.

GoFish has rapidly become a trusted partner and a 'must buy' for brand advertisers based on its uniquely immersive media environments. The GoFish audience spends an average of 68 minutes within high attention experiences such as gaming, entertainment and virtual worlds.

Michael Jung of Panorama, Mark Menell of Rustic Canyon and Richard Ling of Rembrandt join the GoFish Board of Directors.

"We're thrilled to have the backing of such well respected partners," said Tabreez Verjee, President of GoFish. "This has been a year of significant growth and achievement. Our new capital reinforces our solid position in the marketplace and provides for continued growth of capacity, products and revenue. We have built considerable momentum and increased share thus far with a small team and we believe we're poised to continue our growth in 2009."

"We have an exciting new model for brand marketers, an exceptionally talented team and a fantastic marketplace opportunity," said Matt Freeman, CEO of GoFish. "We are well positioned to challenge the incumbents of traditional media and the portals with more imaginative, immersive and highly accountable campaigns."

Michael Jung, Partner at Panorama Capital said, "GoFish has taken a unique approach to serving the needs of major brand advertisers struggling to capture attention of desirable audiences in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. They have demonstrated consistent execution and exceptional results over the past year."

Richard Ling, Partner at Rembrandt Venture Partners said, "GoFish represents an exceptional opportunity in the online advertising space, particularly at this time. Advertisers across the board will be uncompromisingly looking for efficiency and quality in the properties in which they will be willing to spend their limited resources. The team at GoFish represents a unique blend of talent and relationships that has built the type of solution we believe advertisers want to see."

"In a very short period of time, GoFish has established itself as a leading online partner for brand advertisers seeking to reach one of the most sought after audiences," said Mark Menell, Partner at Rustic Canyon Partners. "The company has a proven business model with some of the most experienced thought leaders in the digital media ecosystem at the helm."

Under the terms of the financing, the investors have committed to invest $22.5 million with an option to invest an additional $2.5 million over the next few weeks. The investors will purchase newly created Series A Preferred Stock convertible at a per common share equivalent price of $0.20 per share. The investors also will receive warrants to purchase common stock at $0.20 per share. GoFish will use a portion of the proceeds to repay all of its outstanding debt and to cancel outstanding warrants. In connection with the repayment of the company's debt, holders of 36% of the company's outstanding convertible debt have elected to convert their debt into Series A Preferred Stock. The holders of the company's subordinated debt converted all of their debt into Series A Preferred Stock and exchanged their common stock warrants into common stock at a ratio of one share of common stock for every 10 warrant shares. Holders of an additional 11% of the company's convertible senior debt have the option to convert their debt into Series A Preferred Stock in the next few days. Assuming the investment of $22.5 million and conversion of 36% of the company's outstanding convertible debt (and excluding any conversion by holders of the additional 11% of the company's convertible debt into Series A Preferred Stock), the company will issue Series A Preferred Stock convertible into approximately 152 million shares of common stock, approximately 3.6 million shares of common stock and issue warrants to purchase approximately 61 million shares of common stock. More details of the financing will be reported when the company files its Current Report on Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Panorama Capital

Panorama Capital is a venture capital firm based in California's Silicon Valley that invests in passionate entrepreneurs who are building leading companies in technology and life sciences. Founded in late 2005 as the successor to the venture capital program of JPMorgan Partners, the Panorama team takes a hands-on, highly collaborative approach to investing, bringing to each portfolio company the extensive experience of a seasoned group of investors who collectively possess more than 140 years of broad experience as investors, executives, entrepreneurs, engineers and physicians. Panorama has been a successful investor in the digital media sector with portfolio companies like Federated Media. For more information about Panorama Capital, visit www.panoramacapital.com.

About Rustic Canyon Partners

Rustic Canyon Partners is an early stage venture capital firm that invests in exceptional entrepreneurs building transformational companies. The investment team works collaboratively, drawing on a diverse set of experiences as successful entrepreneurs, managers, and strategic and financial advisors. With over $900 million in funds under management, Rustic Canyon is one of the largest firms based in Southern California, with strong presence in Silicon Valley and Seattle. Key investment themes include Internet/media convergence, clean technology, technology-enabled services, information services, and wireless and wireline broadband.

About Rembrandt Venture Partners

Rembrandt Venture Partners (RVP) was established in 2004 to provide private equity capital to early stage technology companies. Rembrandt invests in a variety of sectors including Internet infrastructure, application software delivered as a service, communications, next generation wireless sectors and new media convergence. Vision: As many venture funds have dramatically increased in size, and angel investment activity has declined over the past few years a void has developed in the market. Rembrandt believes there is a substantial opportunity for a fund focused on early company building.

About GoFish Corporation

GoFish Corporation (www.gofishcorp.com) (OTCBB:GOFH - News), headquartered in San Francisco and New York with sales offices in Los Angeles and Chicago, is a leading entertainment and media company focused on brand immersion experiences that reach consumers in a deeply engaged state of mind. GoFish specializes in aggregating and distributing premium content on a large network of quality sites for which GoFish is the exclusive brand advertising monetization partner. The GoFish Network of sites reaches over 25 million unduplicated online users domestically and 69 million worldwide.* It ranks as the third largest online U.S. youth opportunity and a top five 'mom' opportunity for blue-chip advertisers.

*Source: Comscore Media Metrix Media Trend (with duplication), October 2008.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements relating to GoFish's expected growth in future periods and other statements identified by words, such as "projects," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," and "would," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of GoFish to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward- looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Actual events may differ materially from those mentioned in these forward-looking statements because of a number of risks and uncertainties. Discussion of factors affecting GoFish's business and prospects is contained in GoFish's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. GoFish undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required to do so by the securities laws. Investors are referred to the full discussion of risks and uncertainties associated with forward-looking statements and the discussion of risk factors contained in the GoFish's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available on a website maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.

Contact:

GoFish Corporation
David Lorie, 415-738-8706 (Investor Relations)
General Counsel
dlorie@gofishcorp.com

Or
George H. Simpson Communications
George Simpson, 203-521-0352 (Press)
george@georgesimpson.com

Serious Materials EcoRock

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Popular Science
News Date: 
11/11/2008
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Drywall, plasterboard, wallboard—whatever you call it, the substance that covers billions of square feet of American homes hasn’t changed since its invention in 1917. Dry-
wall factories still roast ground-up gypsum rock in 500°F kilns, spewing out 20 billion pounds of greenhouse gases a year. So Serious Materials created EcoRock: a drywall that congeals without heat, uses recycled materials that don’t require mining, and holds up even better.

The company’s chemists tested 5,000 recipes before they came up with EcoRock’s stew of 20 materials. The fly ash, slag, kiln dust and fillers—85 percent of which are industrial by-products—react chemically when mixed with water and bind together into a paste that’s poured into sheets. The oven-free process uses just 20 percent of the energy of the typical method. And without the starch and cellulose that’s mixed into ordinary gypsum boards, EcoRock is impervious to termites and mold. It costs about the same as high-end drywall, so it may find a home in houses both green and mainstream. $14–$20 per 4x8-ft. sheet; seriousmaterials.com

Pentadyne Spins $22M for Flywheels

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09/24/2008
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The round, from undisclosed investors, brings the California energy-storage company's capital to $68 million, according to previous announcements.

by: Jennifer Kho
Bullet Arrow September 24, 2008

Pentadyne Power Corp. this week said it has raised $22 million in the fifth round of funding for its flywheel technology.

The Chatsworth, Calif.-based company's flywheels - spinning discs that store energy and deliver a few seconds of power during blackouts to bridge the critical gap before backup generators kick in - are made of a carbon-fiber composite material.

Pentadyne claims the material is 10 times stronger than steel, which allows the company's flywheel to spin faster, so it can be smaller than its competitors' flywheels while delivering the same amount of energy.

The company didn't identify the investors behind the round (see VentureBeat post). In an announcement Monday, which said the round closed Sunday, Pentadyne said it would use its newly found capital to expand into new markets, but also didn't name those markets.

The latest round brings the company's total funding to $68 million. Pentadyne raised $14 million last year (see Pentadyne's 'Top Secret' Plan). The company also closed $18 million in a third round in 2005 and announced it had scored an undisclosed amount of funding in a second round in 2002. When it closed the Series C round in 2005, the company said it had raised a total of $32 million.

Backers in previous rounds include Loudwater Investment Partners, Rustic Canyon Partners, Nth Power, DTE Energy Ventures, Accera Venture Partners, Sempra Energy and other private investors.

In July, Pentadyne announced its sales had surpassed those of Active Power (NSDQ: ACPW), making it the No. 1 supplier of flywheel energy-storage systems.

But the flywheel market is still tiny compared to the $30 billion worldwide battery market, even though flywheel technology has been around for decades.

Active Power posted revenue of $14.3 million for the first half of the year and a net loss of $8.9 million. Pentadyne said it had shipped 34 percent more flywheel systems than Active Power, implying sales of around $19.2 million.            

Flywheels come with higher price tags than batteries, for one thing, although advocates say flywheels require less maintenance - more than making up the cost in a few years in applications where downtime is expensive.

In July, Pentadyne said it has been growing at a rate of more than 40 percent annually.

The company's flywheels have been installed at airports, such as the San Jose International Airport in California and an unannounced European international airport, as well as at a data center in Utah, a technology research center in Nebraska, a digital-television transmission facility near Denver and a number of hospitals, among other places.    

Local VCs Assess Wall Street, Technology Investment Climate

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News Date: 
09/22/2008
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Local VCs Assess Wall Street, Technology Investment Climate


How is the instability on Wall Street affecting local venture capitalists? According to some local Southern California venture investors, it absolutely is affecting how they are thinking about the investment environment.


John Babcock, a Managing Director at Rustic Canyon, told us that "while panics are a regular part of free markets, we are definitely into uncharted territory here in terms of the size and speed of the government response to prevent systemic market failure. " He explains, "Our partnership is spending time evaluating the impacts on our portfolio and our outlook on future investments."


"The biggest single issue is probably more psychological, than anything, "Robert Kibble, Managing Partner of Mission Ventures told us, explaining, "the result will be--and already is--that venture capitalists are going to be more cautious, which is they are going to be less likely to fund companies without solid, relatively near term, revenue generating business models." Kibble, who was returning from a board meeting of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Friday, said the topic was definitely on the minds of other venture capitalists on the board of the NVCA.


The question is, what does this mean for entrepreneurs and companies looking for investments?


"I expect that we'll see a situation similar to 2001 where Series A investments continue to be made at a relatively steady pace," Babcock told us, but also said there might be "a compression on pricing for Series B and later rounds." Plus, Babcock says the new money in investments will demand more process, and/or lower valuations.


Kibble said that he expects that "Companies who would have been funded easily one or two years ago, might find it much harder to get funding today." Nevertheless, he said that his firm, and others with money, are still very active.


Kibble "The bigger issue is the IPO market," he said, saying the closed IPO window--and regulations like Sarbanes Oxley--are still the more serious problem for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, and causing lots of issues for the industry as a whole.

Geothermal Co ThermaSource Raises $41.5 M In Private Equity

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08/13/2008
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Geothermal Co ThermaSource Raises $41.5 M In Private Equity


By: Staff Reporters


8/13/2008 – ThermaSource LLC, a geothermal drilling, engineering and consulting company, raised $41.5 million in private equity financing.


Riverstone Holdings LLC, US Renewables Group and Rustic Canyon Partners participated in this round of funding.


The Santa Rosa, Calif.-based company will use the money to purchase geothermal drilling rigs and to develop drilling services, including engineering, mud-logging, cementing and exploration, it said in a statement.


The company didn't return a request for comment.


Riverstone and US Renewables initially invested $20 million in the company in February 2007. The company has raised $93 million in equity and debt in the past two years.


The company expects to double employment, from 210 to more than 420 by the end of the year, as it expands operations domestically and internationally.


New York-based Riverstone, an energy and power-focused private equity firm founded in 2000, has approximately $13.7 billion under management and works with The Carlyle Group to sponsor the Riverstone/Carlyle energy funds. Carlyle has more than 60 funds with more than $81.1 billion under management.


New York-based U.S. Renewables acquires, develops and operates renewable power and clean fuel assets, and has more than $575 million under management.


Southern California-based Rustic Canyon invests in early-stage clean technology and media companies and has $900 million under management.


http://www.thermasource.com