E-DR. Receives Investment From Leading Venture Capital Firms and Reaches Co-Marketing Agreement With CIBA Vision

Business Wire, Dec 16, 1999

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 1999--

E-Dr. Network, Inc. (E-Dr.) announced today that it has received venture capital financing of $8 million led by Noro-Moseley Partners of Atlanta, Georgia, with a co-investment from Benchmark Capital of Menlo Park, California. The company is the leading web-based business-to-business, e-commerce provider in the vision care segment of the U.S. healthcare industry. E-Dr., based in Jacksonville, Florida, has also formed a co-marketing agreement with CIBA Vision Corporation, the eye care unit of Novartis AG and one of the world's leading vision care companies.

E-Dr. enables licensed eyecare professionals (optometrists, ophthalmologists and opticians) to purchase supplies, including contact lenses, eyeglass frames and spectacle lenses from various suppliers, through a single online source, www.E-Dr.com, in a low-cost and highly efficient manner. E-Dr.'s founder and CEO, Dr. Jerome Hayes, explains "Since launching the business in August, 1998, we've grown to provide service to over 1,800 registered eyecare professionals. This recent investment allows us to increase our marketing efforts and continue improving our technology and service offerings to further establish ourselves as the number one e-commerce provider in the vision care segment."

E-Dr. enables eyecare practices to reduce costs in their two largest expense categories: supplies and labor, while increasing overall efficiency. The cost of supplies is minimized through negotiating volume purchase discounts and higher order accuracy is achieved. E-Dr. also provides and maintains a Purchase History Database (PHD(TM)), a proprietary database available to each practice which captures real-time information on all purchases by each eyecare professional on E-Dr.'s network. Suppliers benefit from E-Dr.'s services with the addition of an effective sales channel while it reduces their costs associated with order processing, backorders, shipping, billing and collection.

Allen Moseley, a partner at Noro-Moseley Partners, states "E-Dr. is the internet leader in the vision care industry. Their solution is an excellent e-commerce application and provides better service at a lower cost, while eliminating inefficiencies existing in the current supply chain process." He continues, "We are also very excited to be co-investors with Benchmark. They are one of the nation's premiere venture capital firms and this is first time they have invested with a southeastern-based venture capital firm." Dr. Hayes adds, "With this team of respected investors along with the co-marketing agreement with CIBA Vision representing over $30 million in value over four years, E-Dr. is well equipped to serve as the leading e-commerce solution in the vision care industry."

Industry Overview

The U.S. vision care industry is estimated to be over $16 billion of revenue in 1998, and is projected to grow significantly in the future, driven primarily by an aging population. According to estimates, 60% of the U.S. population, or 161 million people currently wear prescription eyewear.

About E-Dr.

E-Dr. Network, Inc. (E-Dr.), based in Jacksonville, Florida, is the leading web-based, business-to-business e-commerce provider of vision care supplies. Founded in 1998, E-Dr. enables licensed eyecare professionals to purchase supplies including contact lenses, eyeglass frames and spectacle lenses from various suppliers through a single online source, www.E-Dr.com, in a low-cost and highly efficient manner.

About Noro-Moseley Partners

Based in Atlanta, GA, and founded in 1983, Noro-Moseley Partners (NMP) has created four limited partnership funds totaling approximately $260 million in capital and has invested in over 110 private companies. Most of NMP's investments are in small to medium-sized, private growth companies from a broad array of industries with concentrations in internet applications, software, communications and healthcare. www.noro-moseley.com

About Benchmark Capital

Based in Menlo Park, Benchmark Capital is one of the nation's largest venture capital firms with the recent formation of a $1 billion venture capital pool. Benchmark was an early backer of eBay, Inc., Scient Corp and Ariba, Inc. all of which have gone public in the past year and achieved multibillion-dollar valuations. www.benchmark.com

About CIBA Vision

With worldwide headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, CIBA Vision is a global leader in research, development and manufacturing of optical and ophthalmic products and services, including contact lenses, lens care products, ophthalmic surgical products and ophthalmic pharmaceuticals. CIBA Vision products are available in more than 70 countries. www.cibavision.com.