BRM Capital Adds Lucent and JDS Uniphase Directors to Advisory Board; New Advisors to Counsel VC's Investments and Portfolio Companies in Communications

Business Wire, Oct 15, 2001

Business Editors

FORT LEE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 2001

BRM Capital, a seed- and expansion-stage venture capital firm primarily targeting Israeli-related communications and software companies, announced today that Betsy Atkins and Casimir S. Skrzypczak have joined as advisors to BRM Capital.

As communications industry veterans, they will advise BRM Capital on new investments, as well as counsel existing portfolio companies, in the communications arena, offering their expertise in operations and business development.

"We are honored to have Betsy and Cas as advisors," said Mike Mers, managing director at BRM Capital, where he heads the firm's communications investments. "Our firm actively seeks companies in the communications arena. As part of our on-going effort to help our portfolio companies achieve success, we recognize that it takes more than financing, so we offer a far-reaching US and Israeli network for our portfolio to utilize. As new advisors, Betsy and Cas have signed on to be a part of and to expand that network, bringing extensive experience in business strategy, development and planning for communications companies."

Betsy Atkins was an original board member and the co-founder of Ascend Communications. The company sold to Lucent for $23 billion in 1999. In 2000, Lucent recruited Atkins to their board to leverage her entrepreneurial and global marketing perspective. Today, she is an independent venture capitalist, focusing on investments in early stage, high-tech companies and, in addition to Lucent, serves on the Board of Directors at Digital Insight, Florida International University, Polycom and Selectica.

A widely recognized expert on telecommunications network planning and evolution, as well as spokesperson on telecommunication architectures and technology trends, Casimir S. Skrzypczak serves on the boards of Polytechnic University, the International Engineering Consortium, JDS Uniphase Corporation and Stanford Microdevices. He is a general partner at Global Communications Partners, a private equity investor in early stage technology and telecommunications companies. Before that, he was a senior vice president of customer advocacy for Cisco Systems Service Provider Line of Business, where he was responsible for the delivery and support of Cisco's products and solutions for the worldwide service provider market segment. Prior to that, he was corporate vice president and group president of professional services at Telcordia Technologies where his responsibilities included the development and management of Telcordia's worldwide professional services and industry standard setting activities.

Skrzypczak was also formerly the president of NYNEX Science and Technology, and vice president at NYNEX Network and Technology Planning, responsible for the formulation of NYNEX's technology plans and network architecture.

"The depth of Betsy and Cas's operational expertise and technical knowledge in the communications industry has already proven invaluable to the countless companies that have enjoyed success because of their direct involvement," added Mers. "BRM Capital and our portfolio look forward to reaping the benefits of having their exceptional credentials on our side."

About BRM Capital

BRM Capital (www.brm.com) is a seed- and expansion-stage venture capital firm that invests funds primarily in Israeli-related infrastructure companies in the communications and software domains. With its headquarters in the US and advisors in Israel, BRM Capital is an investor that leverages its resources and expansive network for the benefit of its portfolio companies. Public portfolio companies include BackWeb (NASDAQ:BWEB), Brio Technologies (NASDAQ:BRIO), Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) and CrossWorlds Software Inc. (NASDAQ:CWLD).