NextGen Capital Makes Second Investment in eduTest.com; Fund Expands Capital Investment to Online Education Company

Business Wire, Feb 3, 2000

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

FAIRFAX, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2000

NextGen Capital, L.L.C., invested an additional $250,000 in eduTest.com, an enterprise solution provider of K-12 educational testing and assessment products, bringing the Fund's total investment to $1 million.

The combined funds will be used to expand the staff and to enhance content development programming.

eduTest.com has developed the only commercially available K-12 system of online software and proprietary content. Currently the company has four products for use with different audiences throughout the education spectrum.

eduTest@home includes skill sets and grade-level testing for use at home; eduTest@class is designed to be used for individual classroom assessment in a variety of subjects and grade levels; eduTest@school allows schools to test and assess their students against state standards; and eduTest@school-plus provides school districts with the ability to assess their students against state standards.

&uot;Our unique approach promotes learning using immediate results and constructive feedback,&uot; said Susan B. Hardwicke, Ph.D., president and CEO of eduTest.com. &uot;In addition, this process saves teachers and administrators a huge amount of time by mapping student performance and aggregating data at various levels,&uot; she said.

&uot;eduTest.com's customer base, track record and understanding of the marketplace will continue to keep this company in a leadership position,&uot; said Zimri C. Putney, managing director of NextGen Capital. &uot;These products are helping our education system improve learning standards,&uot; he added.

NextGen Capital, L.L.C. (www.nextgencapital.com) manages two venture capital funds, which invest in early stage technology-based companies in the mid-Atlantic region. Investors backing NextGen Capital are primarily executives from the technology and financial sectors who provide their expertise to companies in the Fund's portfolios.

Other investments include Wall Street Sports, now known as Sandbox.com (www.sandbox.com), SynXis Corporation (www.synxis.com) and eduTest.com (www.edutest.com). NextGen Capital is based in Fairfax, Virginia.

eduTest.com (www.edutest.com), an enterprise education solutions company, uses Web-based architecture and programming to create an Internet product line that builds on computer-based testing and assessment. The company's four products - eduTest@home, eduTest@class, eduTest@school and eduTest@school-plus - are currently being used in California, Florida, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia.

These products reflect eduTest.com's unique approach by promoting learning via immediate results and constructive feedback and provides timely analysis and action that is crucial to students, teachers and administrators. eduTest.com is privately-owned and based in Richmond, Virginia.