Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Leads First-Round Investment in Linuxcare, Leader in Linux Support; Kleiner Perkins' Strategic First Investment in Linux Company Signals New Growth Area

Business Wire, May 4, 1999

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 1999--

Linuxcare, Inc., the leader in technical support, consulting, education and product certification for all distributions of Linux, announced today that the company has closed a first round of funding led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), the technology industry's leading venture firm.

"We are intrigued by the rapid growth of Linux and the opportunities for companies supporting the Open Source model," said John Doerr, General Partner in KPCB. "We've made a strategic investment in Linuxcare because of its central position in the Linux market and clear focus on enabling the adoption of Linux in the enterprise."

"Linuxcare fills an immediate, important and fast-growing market need," said Ted Schlein, the KCPB General Partner who will be joining the Linuxcare Board of Directors. "The company's deep experience in solving real-world Linux problems, combined with dedication to the Open Source ideal, is attracting the best and brightest talent and partners. Linuxcare has tremendous momentum."

Founded in August 1998 and publicly introduced in March at the LinuxWorld Conference & Exposition, Linuxcare has built an exceptional team of technical experts dedicated to supporting Linux in the enterprise. The company offers a single point of contact for all distributions of Linux, via a variety of telephone-, Web-, and email-based services. Enterprises can purchase any of four tiers of service, customizable for specific business requirements -- right up to top experts on call 24x7. In addition, Linuxcare hosts www.linuxcare.com, a leading online resource for Linux developers and IT managers, which includes the world's largest, free technical-support knowledgebase for Linux.

About Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Formed in 1972 by Eugene Kleiner and Tom Perkins, Kleiner Perkins was created with the goal of providing entrepreneurs with value-added resources as well as capital investments. The Kleiner Perkins partnerships have sponsored some of the U.S.'s most innovative and rapidly growing new ventures. These businesses have created more than 190,000 jobs, more than $100 billion in revenue and more than $180 billion in market capitalization. Representative investments include: @Home Network, Amazon.com, America Online, CBS SportsLine and Netscape Communications. Information about KPCB is available on the Web at www.kpcb.com.

About Linuxcare, Inc.

Linuxcare, Inc. is the first company to provide a complete solution for Linux technical support, consulting, education and product certification for Global 1000 companies. Linuxcare supports all major distributions of Linux on all major platforms, offering a variety of programs including 24x7 enterprise-class telephone support. The company hosts www.linuxcare.com, the world's largest technical-support resource for Linux. Founded in 1998, Linuxcare is headquartered in San Francisco. The company can be reached at 888/LIN-GURU (888/546-4878) and at www.linuxcare.com.

Note to Editors: Linuxcare and the Linuxcare logo are service marks, and "At the center of Linux" is a trademark of Linuxcare, Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.