CEA Arranges Private Equity Financing for HotChalk, Inc

Business Wire, Jan 28, 2008

TAMPA, Fla. -- Communications Equity Associates ("CEA") announced today that it represented HotChalk, Inc. ("HotChalk") of New York, NY in arranging a total of $5,000,000 of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock. The financing was provided by NBC News, a division of NBC Universal and Peacock Equity Fund, a digital media joint venture between NBC Universal and GE Commercial Finance.

HotChalk is a leading provider of Web 2.0 community platforms to schools and educational institutions worldwide via the Internet. Its mission is to improve the lives of teachers worldwide with the HotChalk Learning Environment ("HLE") a Web 2.0 community platform that lets teachers develop and share content, best practices and improved academic results through community, communication and collaboration. HotChalk enhances and accelerates teacher communication with students and their parents while producing measurable productivity benefits for community members. The HotChalk Network was ranked by Comscore's Top 50 Web Rankings in September 2007 as the second fastest growing Internet property with 6.4 million unique visitors.

In September 2006, HotChalk launched a strategic partnership with the leading text book school publisher - McGraw-Hill Education - to bring a new online teacher professional development offering McGraw-Hill Professional Development to the marketplace. In August 2007, HotChalk announced a strategic partnership with NBC News, a division of NBC Universal, to distribute via the HLE the NBC News digital archives of over 5,000 historically significant news videos from the last 60 years specifically edited for classroom use to over 27,000 K-12 U.S. schools.

David G. Moyer, Senior Managing Director, assisted HotChalk with this financing. Mr. Moyer is based in CEA's Westport, CT office.

About CEA

Founded in 1973, CEA is a leading provider of investment banking services and private equity to the global communications, media, entertainment, and information technology industries. With a team of highly experienced personnel worldwide, CEA has an unequaled depth and breadth of industry knowledge, expertise and long-standing industry relationships. CEA has completed over 900 transactions totaling $40 billion in 60 countries. CEA's and its affiliates also manage, co-manage or participate in a worldwide family of private equity funds with committed capital of approximately $1.15 billion for private equity investments in the industries CEA serves. CEA's reputation and track record of success are built on delivering innovative, value-added solutions and services to clients worldwide. CEA Media Group, LLC is a member of the NASD and SIPC.

For additional information regarding CEA visit www.ceaworldwide.com.