Subject: Venture News, Tuesday, November 21, 2000
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Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2000 03:28:00 -0800 (PST)

Citigroup And Oracle Strike Marketplace Deal -- COMPANIES TEAM TO OFFER 
INTEGRATED PAYMENT SERVICES ON BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS EXCHANGES 11/20/2000 

Citigroup is extending its reach as a provider of financial services to 
business-to-business marketplaces. The $82 billion company has struck a deal 
with Oracle to integrate its payment and financial-settlement services into 
the vendor's online marketplace platform, Oracle Exchange.

In addition, Citigroup will co-brand and market OracleExchange.com, Oracle's 
trading exchange for business supplies, to business clients and deploy 
Oracle's E-procurement applications internally to simplify its own purchasing.

Citigroup already offers its services, called CitiConnect, to rival 
marketplace companies i2 Technologies Inc. and Commerce One Inc. CitiConnect 
supports complex financial transactions, such as employee procurement-card 
purchases, electronic funds transfers, and cross-border payments, for 
businesses participating in exchanges, whether or not they're Citibank 
customers.

Other financial companies target-ing this market include Chase Manhattan Bank 
Corp. and First Union Corp., which have partnerships with online marketplace 
software provider Metiom Inc.; Wachovia Corp. has aligned with Clarus Corp.; 
and ABN Amro, Bank of America, and US Bank have payment-services deals with 
Ariba Inc.

"We see the role of banks in this space increasing as more commerce occurs 
online," says Ann Cairns, global E-solutions head at Citigroup's E-business 
unit. "The key thing that we bring in working with technology companies is an 
understanding and intellectual capital around security and privacy issues."

But Cairns says few transactions occur on exchanges today. Most are building 
their marketplaces, she says. It may be a while before integrated payment 
services gain traction. A recent survey by AMR Research revealed that 
companies participating in exchanges are still most interested in product and 
vendor search capabilities, order status and tracking, and integration with 
partners.

RetailExchange .com Inc., a business-to-business exchange for excess consumer 
goods, is working on integrated credit services with commercial finance firm 
CIT Group Inc. It plans to add shipping and payment services eventually, but 
says large companies already have departments with expertise in those areas. 
Says Ken Frieze, president and CEO of RetailExchange.com, "add-on transaction 
services have to be better and have a greater value proposition than what's 
available offline."

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o CheMatch.com Lays Off 8 Employees But Expects More Funding

HOUSTON -- CheMatch.com, a marketplace for buying
and selling bulk commodity chemicals, plastics,
and fuel products, said it laid off 8 employees,
reducing its workforce to 85. The company, which
withdrew its IPO in October, also said it expects
new funding before the end of the year from investors
that include its original backers. CheMatch is backed
by Battery Ventures, Bayer, Computer Sciences Corp.,
E.E. DuPont de Nemours & Co., Methanex, Millennium
Chemicals, H. Muehlstein & Co., Reed Elsevier, Sprout
Group, Stolt-Nielsen, and TownsendTarnell.
http://www.chematch.com/

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o Lockheed Spin-off TeraConnect Raises $40 Million Round One

NASHUA, N.H. -- Optical component company TeraConnect
said it completed its spin off from Lockheed Martin
company Sanders with a $40 million first round funded
by Goldman Sachs, Kodiak Venture Partners, and Spectrum
Equity Investors. The company said it will use the
funding for further product development. Kodiak
Venture Partners managing general partner Dave Furneaux
is chairman of TeraConnect's board of directors.
TeraConnect develops optical components for router,
server, and telecommunications infrastructure markets.
Telephone 603-885-2988.
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o Data Communication Firm Bravida Lands $33 Million Series B

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Bravida, a developer of data
communications infrastructure products, said it
received $33 million in its Series B round of funding,
led by Patricof & Co. Ventures. Advanced Technology
Ventures, Anila Fund, i-Hatch Ventures, Onset, and
St. Paul Ventures also participated. Michael Duran
of Patricof & Co. and Moses S. Joseph from Anila
Fund will join the company's board of directors.
The company will use the funds for product development
and to expand its staff.
http://www.bravidacorp.com/
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o HyperTrust, Hosted Security Firm, Has $1 Million Funding

LEUVEN, Belgium -- HyperTrust, which is developing
a hosted platform for secure communications and
transactions based on digital signatures, said it
raised EUR 1.24 million ($1 million) in its first
funding. Investors in the round included Belgian
business accelerator AdValvas Group and IT-Partners.
The company said it will use the funding to continue
its product development. HyperTrust rents secured
infrastructure space to customers with a guarantee
of security measures. Sir Martin Lagauw of AdValvas
Group and Stefaan Nicolay of IT-Partners will both
take seats on the company's board of directors.
http://www.hypertrust.com/
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o E-Payment Firm Trintech Buys Globeset for $31 Million

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- Trintech, a publicly-traded
provider of electronic payment infrastructure technology,
said it has acquired another e-payment firm, Globeset,
and all of its intellectual property rights to its
software products. Globeset was acquired for $10
million in stock, $21 million in cash, and the assumption
of liabilities. Globeset is backed by Compaq, CitiGroup,
Deustche Bank, Chase Manhattan, American Express,
and individual investors.
http://www.trintech.com/
http://www.globeset.com/
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