Onvia.com and Red Herring Communications Enter Strategic Partnership — Creates Co-branded Store Focused on Entrepreneurs at Redherring.com

Business Wire, June 22, 1999

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 22, 1999--

Onvia.com and Red Herring today announced an agreement to integrate Onvia.com's small business operations center into Redherring.com, a leading technology business site.

Under the terms of the agreement, Onvia.com will co-brand its online store and offer business products, tools, ideas, and expert advice on the Red Herring web site. Red Herring Communications is a fully integrated network of online, print and broadcast media focused on providing news and analysis, investing and venture capital information. In combination with Onvia.com's small-business-focused products and information, Redherring.com will offer an efficient hub providing content and tools to help emerging entrepreneurs succeed.

Onvia.com acts as an online operations center for small businesses by offering valuable business information and easy access to over 25,000 small business products such as computer hardware, software, office supplies, office furniture, business machines, and telecommunication systems. Each offering is priced competitively and is designed to minimize the time companies spend looking for the right business resources.

"For new entrepreneurs, particularly in today's e-business economy, life moves very quickly," said Glenn Ballman, CEO of Onvia.com. "By joining together, Onvia.com and Red Herring will be able to offer small businesses all the information they need to make the purchase decisions necessary to speed operations and stay competitive."

"One of Redherring.com's primary directives is to connect and enable entrepreneurs in shaping and navigating the changing face of today's technology," said Jeff Cain, director of online business development at Red Herring. "Because of our partnership with Onvia.com, our customers will have one more tool for making faster, more informed business-related decisions."

Unlike a portal with a collection of links that force customers to make their transactions at different sites, Onvia.com aggregates all products and tools in one place, eliminating the time spent re-entering personal and credit information at various sites. All products can be researched, compared, then purchased, directly from the Onvia.com site.

In addition, by strictly focusing on the needs of small businesses, Onvia.com acts as a filter and eliminates noise from consumer-targeted content and products. Customers can subscribe to strategic content, receive targeted updates on product specials, and search solutions to their operational needs in a vendor-neutral environment.

About Onvia.com

Onvia.com, headquartered in Seattle, Wash., is a business-to-business online operations center devoted to meeting the needs of entrepreneurs through targeted business products, services, tools and expert advice from a single point of purchase.

The company has established supplier relationships with 700 product manufacturers and 25 wholesale distributors of products. Service partners include: @Work (a division of @Home), AT&T Wireless, MCI Worldcom, Qwest, Bayshore Leasing, @backup, and Earthlink. Strategic business alliances include Dow Jones, Bloomberg, Global Television, and Hollinger International.

For more information, contact Onvia.com: 209 1/2 1st Ave. S, Suite 302, Seattle, WA 98104. Phone: 206/583-8752. Fax: 206/583-8918. Web: www.onvia.com

About Redherring.com

Redherring.com is the source for up-to-the-minute information on the business of technology. From the trends in technology, to the strategic deals, to the people driving the big issues, Redherring.com blends strategic technology business content with the unique Red Herring "insider" perspective to deliver essential information to business leaders. Redherring.com features three editorial channels: Insider News, Herring Investor and Venture Capital. Redherring.com also features research tools, including stock tickers and a rich database of the people, companies, and industries that make up the Red Herring universe.

More information on Redherring.com can be found at www.redherring.com