McKinsey Takes Equity Position in Skunk Technologies; Companies to Collaborate on Java-based Sales Process Automation Market and Complete 2nd Round Financing

Business Wire, Sept 15, 1998

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 1998--Skunk Technologies Inc., a leader in interactive, Java-based, Sales Process Automation (SPA) technology, Tuesday announced its participation as a portfolio company of the McKinsey & Company New Venture Program managed in Munich, Germany.

Under this program, McKinsey offers strategic, operational and organizational support to selected start-up companies who have high growth potential and exceptional market prospects.

"McKinsey's position in Skunk Technologies sends a strong signal to the industry that Java-based Sales Process Automation is a key market on the verge of broad-based acceptance," said Anthony Bell, CEO and president of Skunk Technologies.

"Our relationship with McKinsey brings a strong set of business skills and provides a strategic advantage to our European market development activities. As our new equity partner, McKinsey brings its position of strength and vast resources to help deploy our Sales Process Automation solutions to a broader base of customers."

As part of its agreement with Skunk Technologies, McKinsey will provide consulting services to support a successful entry into the European market and counseling on important strategic issues over the next 18 months. McKinsey is also assisting in the completion of the second round of financing for Skunk Technologies.

"Skunk Technologies is a very promising investment with significant return on investment potential," said Dr. Sigurd Strack, project manager, McKinsey and Company, Munich. "Skunk Technologies is in the right place, at the right time, with the right technology."

Skunk Technologies' flagship product SESSIONS, leverages the advantages of Java to deliver interactive functionality of static Web sites by extending real-time communications beyond the enterprise to customers, supply chain partners, and mobile or virtual employees. SESSIONS provides companies with an effective and high quality e-commerce and customer service solution for Internet, intranet and extranet environments.

"Sales Process Automation facilitates the conversion of sales opportunities into captured revenue by providing a personalized interactive and enriching experience for the end user," said Jim Colburn, vice president of business development, Skunk Technologies. "Because SESSIONS is written in Java, we provide our customers with the ability to run SESSIONS on their platform of choice."

SESSIONS has been certified at IBM's testing facility in San Mateo, Calif., to run on Windows NT, WARP, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, RS 6000, and AS 400 platforms. The basic functionality of SESSIONS can be viewed at http://sessions.skunktech.com.

About McKinsey New Venture Program

Since the inception of the McKinsey New Venture Program in 1997, McKinsey has assisted more than a dozen companies in Europe and the United States in various stages, and has successfully supported multiple financing rounds as well as exit strategies. McKinsey & Company, Prinzregentenstrasse, 80538 Munich, Germany. Phone: 49 89 55 94 - 0; fax: 49 89 55 94 700; e-mail: NewVenture@mckinsey.com.

About Skunk Technologies

Skunk Technologies, http://www.skunktech.com, is a leading developer of interactive, SPA technology. Established in 1995, Skunk Technologies is located in Santa Monica. For information on SESSIONS or the Skunk Technologies' Value Added Reseller Program, contact: sales@SkunkTech.com or call 310/917-3393.

CONTACT: Skunk Technologies Inc., Santa Monica

James Colburn, 310/917-3393

sales@SkunkTech.com