AppGate Secures $4 Million in Third Round of Funding; Investment Led by ABN AMRO Capital and GE Equity Reflects Strong Market Demand for Advanced VPN Solutions

Business Wire, Feb 26, 2002

Business & High-Tech Editors

DURHAM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2002

AppGate(TM), provider of the most powerful and advanced VPN solutions that extend e-security into the trusted network, today announced it has secured $4 million as part of its Series C financing.

Led by investors ABN AMRO Capital and GE Equity, this third round of funding will be used for the continued expansion of product development and sales and marketing efforts.

According to a recent report by IDC, the U.S. VPN market is anticipated to grow from $5.4 billion in 2001 to $14.7 billion by 2006. With this round of funding, AppGate positions itself in this high growth marketplace as a leader in rapidly deployable, customizable VPN solutions. AppGate believes it is critically important for organizations across the globe to be equipped with easily deployable, adaptable virtual private network solutions that ensure the highest levels of protection while providing considerable ROI. As companies become increasingly reliant on the Internet as the main vehicle for business communications and transactions, ensuring protection from security breaches--both from within the trusted network as well as from outside--becomes paramount. By controlling access not just to the firewall at the front gate, but all the way to the application level within the trusted network, AppGate enables organizations to protect all important information that makes up the enterprise. Further, the AppGate VPN offers unique scalability and flexibility features that provide a quick ROI for users gained from economies in daily support costs and distribution within the organizations.

"This investment on the part of ABN AMRO Capital and GE Equity will support AppGate's aggressive sales and marketing strategy to reach new markets and expand product offerings for the e-security industry," said Alfred Moresi, AppGate's chief executive officer. "In an evolving market where the focus has always been on external security threats, AppGate's VPN solutions are filling a void in the e-security marketplace with a secure end-to-end pipeline solution with the largest supported list of access methods. The result is an ongoing protection of critical applications and data for medium to large size companies."

"AppGate exemplifies a leader in an industry that is growing dramatically because of increased demand and scrutiny on Internet and network security," noted Jennifer Buckley, Associate Director of GE Equity. "GE's investment in AppGate demonstrates our confidence in its management and optimism toward the company's continued growth."

Continues Johan Bjurstrom, managing director of ABN AMRO Capital, "AppGate is making great strides at a remarkable pace with the continued development of innovative VPN solutions that solve distinct market needs."

"AppGate is redefining the concept of a virtual private network, an effort which has been well received by the companies looking to secure their information and data across the entire enterprise," added Samuel Simonsson, AppGate's chairman of the board.

About AppGate

AppGate is a privately held company that designs and manufactures e-security software and hardware network solutions for small to large enterprises. Major offices are located in Durham, North Carolina, and Gothenburg, Sweden. AppGate provides the most powerful and advanced VPN solutions that offer enterprises an end-to-end secure pipeline for both internal and external access and authentication to applications and data. Highly scalable and flexible, AppGate's technology easily integrates with any system or operating environment. Major products include the AppGate VPN, AppGate PowerBox(TM) and the MindTerm SSH client for OEM users. We take e-security further into your enterprise.

For more information: http://www.appgate.com/.> About ABN AMRO Capital

ABN AMRO Capital is the international private equity business and wholly owned subsidiary of ABN AMRO, one of the world's largest banks with total assets of more than USD 500 billion and more than 3,500 locations in 70 countries and territories. ABN AMRO Capital provides private equity across an international network of 120 investment managers located in 12 countries, with proprietary offices based across Europe and in the United States, Latin America and Australia.

For more information: http://www.abnamro.com

About GE Equity

GE Equity is one of the leading providers of equity capital to growing companies. It invests in growth capital, replacement or secondary capital, buy-outs and buy-ins. GE Equity's European headquarters are in London, with offices in Milan and Frankfurt.

For more information: http://www.geequity.com.