direct/ Northzone Ventures Raises EUR 175 million for Latest Fund

International investors back Northzone´s team and Nordic investment focus

Copenhagen/ Oslo/Stockholm, 25th April 2006: Northzone Ventures announced today the closing of its fifth venture capital fund (Northzone V). The fund was closed in one closing of EUR175 million. Northzone V attracted several new investors including, AlpInvest Partners, Pantheon Ventures and BNP Paribas Private Equity , joining previous investors such as Argentum, Nordea Life and Pensions, LGT Capital Partners, Vital, Access Capital Partners and Swiss Re. The fund will be invested over the next four to five years in Northzone Ventures´ focus area of fast growth technology, software and telecom companies, primarily in the Nordic region.

Northzone Ventures has been an active technology investor since 1996 and has developed a solid reputation and tradition for investing in top entrepreneurial teams throughout the Nordic region with global potential and with products and services that drive the transformation of their industries.

Northzone Ventures invests in the early stages of its portfolio companies´ life cycle, and works actively to develop its investment companies to become global winners. Northzone´s eight partners are located in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm and have since the inception made more that 40 investments throughout the Nordic region.

Northzone V follows Northzone IV with a capital of EUR78m raised in 2003. Investments by this fund include Funcom (OSE: FUNC; a developer and publisher of massive mulitiplayer online games), PriceRunner (shopping comparison acquired by ValueClick) and MCP (mobile communication platforms for ships).

Prior to this, Northzone Ventures made its mark in investing in portfolio companies such as Stepstone (OSE: STP; European online recruiting service), LastMinute.com (UK; Global travel site), NextGenTel (OSE: NEXT; a leader in DSL broadband access/services), Trolltech (Linux application and GUI development software); MAMUT (OSE: MAMUT; ERP Software) MassMarket (shopping pooling; acquired by Lycos / Spray) and ENVOX (global supplier of open, standards-based voice solutions).

Tellef Thorleifsson, General Partner at Northzone Ventures, commented: "With the establishment of Northzone V, we have documented that there is a strong belief in the future of the Nordic technology sector, and that Nordic VC funds with a strong track record and a value added approach to building companies can attract significant international funding. 55% of the funding for Northzone V is provided by non Nordic investors"

"We are delighted to announce Northzone V. Consistent with our strategy of funding early stage companies, we chose to cap the fund at EUR175 million. The fact that this was our fastest and most successful fundraising to date is testament to the confidence institutional investors has in the potential of Nordic venture capital."

Ivan Vercoutère at LGT said, "´Northzone Ventures has built a strong VC partnership in the Nordic region, and has proved that as a venture partnership, they are able to identify attractive opportunities in the region and support entrepreneurs and companies become global winners. As investors in Northzone since 1999, we are very pleased to be a continuing investor in their new fund and be part of their successes."

Joost Holleman at AlpInvest Partners also commented, "The Nordic region is an attractive region to invest in technology and Northzone is well positioned to capture these opportunities. The Northzone partners have the skills and the experience to spot valuable technology companies and to support their development into international leading companies. We expect that their new fund will further profit from their position and track record and we are very happy to be part of it."

Hogan & Hartson LLP were appointed legal advisors for the new fund. Global Private Equity acted as placement agent on selected mandates.


Contact details - Northzone General Partners

Karl-Christian Agerup
+ 47 92 21 87 67
kca@northzone.com

Torleif Ahlsand
+ 47 41 41 29 85
ahlsand@northzone.com

Arve Johan Andresen
+ 45 20 78 84 46
arve@northzone.com

Jörgen Bladh
+ 46 707 307 050
bladh@northzone.com

Gregers Kronborg
+ 45 25 13 63 20
kronborg@northzone.com

Pär-Jörgen Pärson
+ 46 709 565 221
pjp@northzone.com

Bjørn Stray
+ 47 92 88 31 56
stray@northzone.com

Tellef Thorleifsson
+ 47 91 32 25 41
tellef@northzone.com

Stine Foss, CFO
+ 47 92 09 56 44
stine@northzone.com

For more information visit www.northzone.com




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