Plateau Systems Secures $18 Million in Equity Funding
AIG/Horizon Partners, EuclidSR Partners, GE Equity Invest in eLearning Opportunity
FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA - Thursday, March 1, 2001 -- Plateau Systems, Ltd., today announced the receipt of $18 million in equity funding which will be used to rapidly expand the company's mission of providing leading-edge learning management systems to regulated industries and corporate entities. AIG Horizon Partners LLC, EuclidSR Partners and GE Equity provided the equity investment in equal shares. Investments will be made in sales and marketing, corporate infrastructure and product development for Plateau.
Plateau Systems, a leader in the provisioning of learning management systems for regulated industries, has recently branched out to aggressively target corporate enterprises. Plateau built its outstanding products through the demands of its regulated industry clients such as Motorola, Nestle USA and the U.S. Air Force. In the past year, Plateau has provided Web-based, end-to-end learning management systems for Nortel Networks and Fed Ex.
"The timing of this investment demonstrates we have a tenable business plan that continues to impress the leaders of the venture capital community," stated Paul Sparta, Chief Executive Officer of Plateau Systems. "We were able to secure equity funding in an extremely tight market and Plateau will now take advantage of the growth opportunities in elearning at a much faster pace."
EuclidSR Partners, which provides venture capital to industry-leading healthcare, eHealth and Information Technology companies, invested in Plateau. Graham Anderson, a general partner at EuclidSR Partners stated, "I am impressed by Plateau's heritage of mission-critical training for highly regulated corporations and government entities. We think their accomplishments in the energy and pharmaceutical industries provide fertile ground for expansion."
Graham Anderson and John Malfettone, Managing Director of GE Equity, will join the board of Plateau Systems.
About Plateau Systems: Plateau manages learning and knowledge processes for organizations, improving their business operations by integrating and delivering the knowledge employees, customers and partners require to excel. Plateau's enterprise-class software supports online and traditional learning methods, and integrates seamlessly with other enterprise software applications to enhance their value and reduce the cycle of learning. Plateau 4 Learning Management System (LMS) is built on open, J2EE/EJB architecture, and is being used by clients across the globe, including Motorola University, Federal Express, Nestle USA and the U.S. Air Force. The company was founded in 1996, and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.
About GE Capital: GE Equity, a subsidiary of GE Capital, is the private equity arm of GE. GE Capital, with assets of more than US$370 billion, is a global, diversified financial services company grouped into six key operating segments comprised of 24 businesses. A wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric Company, GE Capital, based in Stamford, Connecticut, provides a variety of consumer services, such as credit cards and life and auto insurance; mid-market financing; specialized financing; specialty insurance; equipment management, and specialized services, to businesses and individuals in 47 countries around the world. GE is a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide. For more information on GE Equity please visit www.geequity.com.
About EuclidSR Partners: "EuclidSR Partners (ESR) is a $250 million venture capital partnership, based in New York and Philadelphia. ESR invests in development stage companies in life sciences and information technologies (IT), including the emerging "convergence" area of companies which develop IT and Internet applications for drug discovery and development. Formed in January 2000 by combining the investment management teams of Euclid Partners (founded in 1970) and S.R. One, Limited (founded in 1985), ESR has made eight portfolio investments to date."
###