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Kenet Closes $10 Million Series B Funding; Oak Investment Partners Leads Round As Fabless Semiconductor Company Valuation Rises

Posted on: Monday, 28 June 2004, 06:00 CDT

Kenet Inc., a developer of revolutionary, low-power analog mixed-signal products, today announced it has closed a $10 million Series B preferred round of equity financing at a step up in valuation. This round brings the total equity investment in Kenet to $17 million. New investor Oak Investment Partners led the round, which included participation from all Series A investors: Venrock Associates, Kopin Corporation and CP Group. Kenet plans to use the new financing to support expanded engineering, sales, and marketing initiatives.

Kenet is developing advanced integrated circuit technology with broad application to portable consumer and communication products. The company's intellectual property, based on innovative analog and mixed-signal design, has foundations in patents developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that are licensed by Kenet. Kenet's products operate at the leading edge of performance while offering substantial improvement in silicon area and power consumption.

"Kenet has developed significantly differentiated and innovative mixed-signal technology that delivers unique customer value in terms of power, performance and costs," said Bandel Carano, General Partner at Oak Investment Partners. "We expect the company to launch revolutionary products that have broad application in consumer and communications markets. We are very confident that Kenet is poised to become a leading provider of innovative mixed-signal technology in the years to come."

Ifty Ahmed, a principal at Oak's Westport office, will join Kenet's Board of Directors, which currently includes Chairman of the Board, Dr. John C.C. Fan of Kopin Corporation; Eric Copeland of Venrock Associates; Dr. Vallobh Vimolvanich of CP Group; and Dr. Gerry Sollner, Kenet's president and CEO.

"The industry experience and stellar reputation of Oak Investment Partners make them the perfect addition to our top-tier syndicate," said Dr. Sollner. "We are fortunate to be introducing our new products during strong market growth following a slowdown in R&D at large semiconductor companies. This financing will enable us to quickly scale our operations to meet the demand for our disruptive technology."

About Kenet

Kenet Inc. is an early stage, fabless semiconductor company specializing in mixed-signal technologies with broad application for consumer and communications devices. Kenet is backed by venture funding from investors including Oak Investment Partners, Venrock Associates, Kopin Corporation, and CP Group. For more information, please contact Kenet at 781-942-4500, email info@kenetinc.com or visit www.kenetinc.com.

About Oak Investment Partners

Established in 1978, Oak Investment Partners is a venture capital firm with a strong track record as a stage-independent investor. To date, Oak has funded more than 350 companies with aggregate annual revenues in excess of $60 billion. Oak's investment strategy focuses on growth opportunities in enterprise application and infrastructure software, communications equipment and services, data storage, semiconductors, outsourced services, financial services technology, and healthcare services. Located in Westport, CT, and with offices in Minneapolis, MN, and Palo Alto, CA, Oak concentrates on building long-term relationships with experienced management to develop successful companies that deliver consistent performance over time such as AthenaHealth, Compaq, Genzyme, Parametric Technology Corporation, PictureTel (now part of Polycom), Polycom, SanDisk, Seagate Technologies, Sybase, Synopsys, Telica (acquired by Lucent), Wellfleet (acquired by Nortel), Wireless Facilities, etc. For additional information visit www.oakvc.com.

About Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group

Since its foundation as Chia Tai seed shop 80 years ago, the CP Group has demonstrated the acumen and entrepreneurial spirit that characterizes all of the world's great business and industrial empires: seizing opportunities where they found them, developing the necessary management and technological skills, and always planning for a better future.

Today, CP Group, comprising around 250 companies in 20 countries with more than 100,000 employees, is one of the largest foreign investors in China and stands at the forefront as Asia's leading globally committed conglomerate.

Agri-business is still very much at the heart of the CP Group's activities, that also includes telecommunications; E-commerce; international trading, marketing and distribution; petrochemicals; property and land development; insurance; and automotive and industrial projects.

About Kopin

Founded in 1984, Kopin is pioneering the use of nanotechnology to manufacture nanosemiconductor products that make mobile electronic devices small, fast, bright, lightweight and power efficient. With an intellectual property portfolio of more than 200 issued and pending patents, Kopin supplies the world's largest electronics manufacturers and government agencies with breakthrough semiconductor products. The Company's liquid-crystal microdisplays, ultra-efficient transistors and high-brightness GaN LEDs enhance the delivery and presentation of voice, video and data. Kopin technology is currently used in nearly one-third of the world's cell phones and camcorders and is the microdisplay standard for the U.S. military. For more information, please visit Kopin's website at www.kopin.com.

About Venrock Associates

Venrock Associates was founded as the venture capital arm of the Rockefeller Family and continues a tradition of funding entrepreneurs that now spans more than six decades. As one of the oldest venture firms in the United States, Venrock maintains a tradition of collaboration with talented entrepreneurs to establish successful, enduring companies. Venrock activities have focused on early stage companies in Information Technology and Healthcare with investments in Intel, Apple, Stratacom, Spyglass, Check Point Software, Visual Networks, DoubleClick, Genetics Institute, and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, The firm, with offices in New York, Cambridge, and Menlo Park, is currently investing a $550 million fund that closed in November 2003. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.venrock.com.

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