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Novell Announces Five New Investments by Internet Equity Fund To Accelerate Deployment of Directory Solutions in Business Networks and by Internet Service Providers PROVO, Utah — December 14, 1998 — Novell, Inc. today announced the placement of over $9 million of investment capital by the Novell Internet Equity Fund (IEF) in exchange for minority equity positions in five network software companies: enCommerce, Inc., NetObjects, Inc., ObjectSpace, Inc., Oblix, Inc., and Orbital Technologies, Inc. Through its IEF, Novell is investing in innovative companies that offer software applications, tools and utilities that add value to Novell Directory Services (NDS) and its directory-enabled NetWare server platform. Businesses use directory solutions to manage and secure user access to data files, applications, devices, and Internet services. Novell's NDS, the most widely used directory service with 40 million users, gives customers total control of their networks. NDS is available across platforms, providing users and developers with infrastructure for secure, manageable solutions that can be distributed across the enterprise and the Internet. Chris Stone, senior vice president of Strategy and Corporate Development at Novell said, "Our intention is to assist in increasing the opportunities for small, innovative companies to be successful and to accelerate the growth of the directory applications industry. These directory applications companies, as with the others in which we have already invested, provide unique solutions and value for directory-enabled networks."
Fund Portfolio Companies Focus on the Directory and the Internet These latest Novell investments are in companies with products that carry the potential of accelerating the deployment of directory solutions in business networks and within the offerings of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). enCommerce, Inc., of Santa Clara, California has developed software that reduces the time and cost of deploying secure content on the Web. NetObjects, of Redwood City, California, provides software that automates and simplifies the designing, authoring, publishing and updating of Web sites. ObjectSpace, of Dallas, Texas, uses Java to provide Object Based Broker software to control the distribution of application components such as Java applets across the Internet. Oblix, Inc., of Mountain View, California, has pioneered a new class of enterprise application software, Corporate Services Automation (CSA), that automates and manages corporate services by creating a Digital Persona for each employee. Orbital Software is the leading provider of expertise matching and profiling technology to facilitate knowledge flow and discovery within the enterprise.In some cases, Novell is integrating technology from the IEF companies in its own products. Novell bundles NetObjects Fusion with its NetWare for Small Business platform to make Web site development easy and simplify Web publishing. Novell also seeks to expand support for the directory through integration of NDS with significant directory-related products. ObjectSpace's Voyager, the first-ever 100 percent Java agent-enhanced Object Request Broker (ORB) will be integrated with NDS. Oblix's CSA also supports NDS to improve productivity for desktop users throughout the enterprise. Orbital Software's Organik Persona Server draws on information within NDS to create user profiles. enCommerce plans to integrate its getAccess product with NDS, as the basis for Web access management controls In August, 1998, Novell announced an initial round of Internet Equity Fund investments in four software companies: Evergreen Internet, Inc, Chandler, Arizona; GlobalCast Communications, Inc., Fremont, California; NetPro Computing, Inc., Scottsdale, Arizona; and NetVision, Inc., Orem, Utah. In addition to the Internet Equity Fund Novell makes strategic investments in select venture capital firms. Currently, Novell holds investments in The Java Fund (Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers) and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and is in discussions with numerous other venture capital firms. Novell anticipates that investments in venture capital funds will accelerate the growth of the directory market and adoption of Novell Directory Services.
Novell Internet Equity Fund The Novell Internet Equity Fund promotes Novell's interests in advancing innovative networking technologies. The $50 million fund typically makes investments in development-stage software companies that are in their first or second rounds of financing. The fund is focused on software products that support NDS and Java applications that run on servers, such as Novell's NetWare 5, for distribution across networks. Companies interested in the Fund can find more information about it at http://developer.novell.com/fund/.
About Novell Novell, Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL) is the leading provider of network software enabled by directory services. Novell Internet solutions make networks more manageable and secure and reduce the total cost of ownership for organizations of every kind and size. Novell's worldwide channel, developer, education and technical support programs are the most extensive in the network computing industry.For information on Novell's complete range of products and services, contact Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272), or visit Novell's Web site at www.novell.com. Press may access Novell announcements and company information on the World Wide Web at www.novell.com/pressroom. Novell, NetWare and Novell Directory Services are registered trademarks and NDS is a trademark of Novell, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
Press Contacts:
Kellee Marlow
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