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BridgeCo Receives Follow-on Investment From Intel Digital Home Fund

Posted on: Monday, 20 September 2004, 06:00 CDT

BridgeCo (www.bridgeco.net), a leading provider of wired and wireless digital home entertainment networking solutions, disclosed today that the Intel Digital Home Fund has participated in BridgeCo's $16 million Series C financing round. The Intel Digital Home Fund joins Fidelity Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Earlybird and Infineon Ventures as Series C investors. Intel Capital also participated in BridgeCo's Series B funding round.

BridgeCo develops chips and the associated software to wirelessly connect PCs to consumer audio/video systems and the Internet. BridgeCo's highly integrated platform handles Internet protocols, content decompression, digital rights management and user interface processing so that legacy and emerging consumer electronics products can become nodes on wired or wireless home networks.

"This investment is part of Intel Capital's strategy of enabling an ecosystem of complementary technologies for the digital home," said Scott Darling, Intel Capital vice president and director of Enterprise and Digital Home Sectors. "BridgeCo's cost-effective home networking silicon, hardware and software platforms, and strategic relationships with content providers and technology partners, will facilitate device interoperability and new ways to use consumer technology."

BridgeCo will use this series C financing round to expand its global marketing efforts and support the company's home networking platforms at top tier OEMs.

The $200 million Intel Digital Home Fund, one of Intel Capital's investment program initiatives, was announced in January 2004. It targets companies developing hardware and software, as well as connectivity and supporting technologies that enable people to enjoy digital content - including music, games, photos and video - on multiple devices in the home and beyond. For more information, visit www.intel.com/capital.

BridgeCo Targets Mass Markets

The BridgeCo Entertainment Network Adapter(TM), or ENA, is a silicon and software platform that enables audio systems, DVD players and other consumer electronic products to connect to a home PC using the popular WiFi, or 802.11, wireless home network. This allows consumers to play MP3 audio tracks, view digital photos, or access other digital content stored on a home PC, or on the Internet, while using the stereo, television or DVD in their living room.

There are more than 2 billion legacy consumer products in living rooms around the world that can now be wirelessly connected to a home PC using cost-effective home networking products built on BridgeCo technology. In addition, a growing proportion of the 500 million consumer electronic appliances that are purchased every year will soon come equipped with home networking capability.

"BridgeCo is targeting very high volume consumer markets with customized, standards-compliant technology that reduces the cost of networking PCs to consumer electronics," according to BridgeCo CEO Angelo Ugge. "Just as networking increased the utility of computers at work, home networking is now poised to exponentially increase the utility of both PCs and all of the audio and video equipment that makes our lives more interesting and enjoyable at home."

With this Series C investment round, BridgeCo has raised a total of $39.8 million.

About BridgeCo

BridgeCo is a pioneer of digital entertainment networking solutions. Its BeBoB (BridgeCo enabled Breakout Box) is a highly integrated platform that delivers cost-effective audio capture and mixing solutions to musicians and content creators. The company's Entertainment Network Adapters (ENAs) are the world's most comprehensive, cost-effective and highly integrated silicon and software platforms for connecting Internet media sources and PCs to consumer electronics throughout the home. BridgeCo ENAs are used in a wide range of innovative and legacy products produced by the multi-billion dollar global consumer electronics industry, including Wireless Audio Adapters, Audio/Video receivers, DVD players, musical instruments and breakout boxes.

Underlying all BridgeCo solutions are proprietary, integrated semiconductor and software technologies that network PCs to CE devices via widely-used standards and protocols (e.g. IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 1394, UPnP, WiFi, and DLNA) for network and signal processing.

BridgeCo, an ISO 9001-certified company, is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland and maintains an international business development office in Silicon Valley. Its key investors include Fidelity Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Earlybird, Infineon Ventures, and Intel Capital. For more information, please visit www.bridgeco.net.

All trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.

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