tmp=<font COLOR='#990000' size='14 px'>ABOUT USVP</font>
U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) has helped build great companies for nearly three decades. Since its inception in 1981, USVP has invested more than $1.8 billion in over 350 companies. Throughout, USVP's partners have worked diligently and consistently with early-stage companies, many of which have become industry leaders.

The USVP team consists of accomplished venture investors, former CEOs, senior executives and technology company founders that span four generations of high-technology venture investing. This engenders a perspective on business cycles, "hot" market trends, technology evolution and revolution that is not present among all early-stage investors. Together, we have more than 150 years of operating experience and 100 years of investment expertise. Founding partner Bill Bowes, who has 50 years of venture investment experience, was also the founder of Amgen, a $70 billion pharmaceutical company. 

Our investment interests include components, software, systems, services, and life sciences. Areas of current focus include semiconductors, software as a service, networking solutions for storage, wireless data, the Internet version 2.0, biomedical devices and new drugs with profound social benefits.

We invest at a steady pace even during periods when technology investing is out of favor. We do so because we take a long view and expect most of our companies to take five years or more to become established and self-sustaining. The immediate economic environment at a company's beginning is not particularly relevant to its ultimate success or value. This approach resulted in 19 new deals in 2002, for example, 15 of which were first-round investments. USVP invested in a similar number of start-ups in 2003 (15) and 2004 (18). Since 1981, USVP has invested more than $1.8 billion in over 350 companies. Sixty-nine companies achieved IPO as of the end of 2004. Many others have realized positive merger outcomes.

<font color='#990000'><b>EXPERTISE UNMATCHED</b></font>
USVP's track record of helping to build significant companies from the embryonic stage began in the early 1980s with investments in companies such as Sun Microsystems and AMCC, both of which continue to be market leaders supplying computer systems and VLSI circuits respectively.

The firm's deep industry expertise, technical strengths, team approach, network of outstanding people, and access to capital from "blue chip" limited partners have made a positive impact on hundreds of information technology and life sciences companies. Our portfolios have included investments in data communications leaders Xylan (acquired by Alcatel), Crescendo (acquired by Cisco), and StrataCom (acquired by Cisco). USVP invested in Checkpoint Software, a leading provider of firewalls and virtual private networks, which went public in 1996. USVP was the initial investor in Nuance, a leader in the growing speech technology marketplace that later went public in 2000. More recently USVP invested in Monta Vista Software, a global provider of embedded Linux operating systems and in Leadis, a fabless chip company developing integrated circuits for cellular handsets. Both companies are poised for market leadership in rapidly growing segments. These are just a few of the USVP success stories. It is too early to say which of the companies USVP funded in the 21st century will become the next market leaders, dominant competitors and great technology investments. However, we are confident that, with the quality teams we have backed and the large markets they are addressing, these great companies are in the USVP portfolio mix.

We are now investing our ninth fund, which represents the continued confidence of our limited partners in our ability to help build valuable companies. We believe the current USVP portfolios are very strong and reflect our sustained investment activity throughout the ups and downs of the technology business cycle. With more than 100 active companies in the USVP portfolios, we expect the firm to play a seminal role in the progress of information technology and life science industries well into the future.