Pasadena Entretec Announces Finalists for Second Annual Entrepreneurship Award

Market Wire, April, 2005

Pasadena Entretec (www.pasadenaentretec.com), a non-profit, business organization aimed at fostering economic growth by supporting advanced technology companies along the Foothills Technology Corridor, announced the six finalists for its second annual Entrepreneurship Award. The award celebrates the entrepreneurial vigor and business achievements of technology companies in the San Gabriel Valley. Evolution Robotics, an Idealab! company that develops personal robotics, was named winner last year.

The six finalists for 2005 include: Bluebeam Software, Inc., Guidance Software, Language Weaver, Leisurelink, MediaDefender Inc., and X1 Technologies, Inc. (Company descriptions below). The finalists will be recognized at a "HOT Companies Networking Breakfast" on April 21 at the Caltech Athenaeum, with the winner being announced at an awards dinner on June13, featuring key note speaker, William M. Reichert, Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures, a leading investor in early stage companies.

"The six finalists exemplify successful young companies that have achieved significant product and market milestones as represented by either customer commitment or early revenues," said Stephanie Yanchinski, executive director of Entretec. "They symbolize some of the best and most entrepreneurial of the coming generation of software companies in the LA area." She continued, "The award also acknowledges the growing importance of the high tech industry in the Foothills Technology Corridor, and its contribution to the economic wealth of the Los Angeles basin."

Louise Wannier, co-founder of Gemstar and chairman of the Entrepreneurship Award committee added, "We were pleased to see the impressive innovation and progress this group of strong companies has made in such a short period of time, and we recognized their potential for future contributions to the local economy."

The Foothills are home to a cluster of high quality academic institutions, anchored by the finest research institution on the West Coast, the California Institute of Technology. There are currently over 250 high tech companies in the region developing rocket cameras, biotech drug targets, micro medical devices and software, among many other innovative products.

About the Finalists

--  Bluebeam Software, Inc. (www.bluebeam.com), invents, develops, and
    commercializes desktop software applications specifically designed to meet
    the unique needs of engineers and architects.

--  Guidance Software (www.guidancesoftware.com), is a leader in computer
    forensics and incident response solutions.  Its award winning EnCase®
    software is considered a standard forensic tool by corporate and government
    investigators.

--  Language Weaver (www.languageweaver.com), commercializes a unique
    approach to automatic language translation using proprietary statistical
    translation algorithms. Its statistical machine translation software
    provides the highest quality output to date from machine translation.

--  Leisurelink (www.leisurelink.com), is a travel technology and
    distribution company that has developed a Global Distribution System (GDS)
    for the vacation rental and time-share industry.  LeisureLink's GDS
    positions the company as the leading electronic marketplace for
    researching, buying and selling vacation rentals.

--  MediaDefender (www.mediadefender.com), a division of Laguna Beach-
    based OnSystems Inc., has created software to track and block online
    trading of songs and other copyrighted materials.

--  X1 Technologies, Inc. (www.x1.com), an Idealab! Company, develops
    desktop search software and solutions for customers ranging from individual
    professional users to large enterprises. The company's award-winning
    software products provide PC users with the fastest way to find data.
    

The Entrepreneurship Award is one of several events hosted by Entretec. Their signature event, DesignTech Connect, co-founded by the Art Center College of Design, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Cities of Pasadena and Monrovia, is a "one of a kind" business event that will unite the worlds of advanced technology and industrial design to create an extravaganza where talent can meet to share creative ideas and establish business connections. Featuring product demonstrations, and leading edge technology and design, DesignTech CONNECT will draw over 50 exhibitors and 300 attendees. The event is scheduled for May 12-13, 2005, at the Art Center College of Design, South Campus. For sponsorship, exhibitor or attendee opportunities, please contact Entretec at 626/356-9933.

About Entretec

Entretec (www.pasadenaentretec.com), is the leading industry association in the Foothills Technology Corridor, offering practical business support and extensive networking to technology companies. Since its inception five years ago, Entretec has grown to more than 250 members. Working closely with Caltech's Office of Technology Transfer, the Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum, the Keck Graduate Institute, the City of Hope, UCLA, the NASA Commercialization Center, LA County and the LA County Business Technology Center, LARTA, the LAEDC, the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, and many supporting professional and business organizations (including the Cities of Pasadena and Monrovia and Clinical Micro Sensors, Inc.), Entretec is positioned to work with other communities and cities to build Los Angeles into a significant cluster of technology development. Entretec operates from an office on the Caltech campus.