ePlanet Invests in Greetz

Greetz, the online personalised, printed and posted greeting card service has attracted new capital for further growth. ePlanet Ventures together with existing shareholder Prime Technology Ventures have jointly invested substantial new capital in the company. With this capital Greetz can strengthen its position in the Dutch market and realise its international ambition, to become the market leader in personalised, printed and posted greeting cards through the Internet.

Since 2004 Greetz has built a strong position in the Dutch greeting cards market. In the Netherlands, Greetz is market leader in the field of online personalised, printed and posted greeting cards, and with this additional capital, the company will be able to increase the familiarity of the brand. Greetz is also now active in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The new funds will allow Greetz to expand and further strengthen its position in these markets.

Greetz has grown strongly in recent years. In 2008 Greetz sent more than 3.2 million greeting cards and acquired Kaartenhuis, the largest e-card site in the Netherlands. In 2008 this ensured that Greetz ranked third in the Dutch Deloitte “Technology fast 50,” a listing in which fast growing Dutch technology companies are mutually compared. Furthermore, the existing IT platform was renewed and its flexibility increased. Moreover, the management was strengthened and new activities started in the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

“We are proud to have succeeded to attract new funds to realise our growth ambition. Once again, our existing shareholder Prime Technology Ventures has expressed its trust in our company. Furthermore, we are pleased to welcome ePlanet Ventures, a leading international venture capital fund who previously backed such successes as Skype and Baidu. In these challenging economic times this is a strong vote of confidence in the Greetz model and this investment provides us with the financial power to invest and further roll out of our concept,” stated Johan van Vulpen, Greetz CEO.

Sake Bosch, Prime Technology Ventures founder and Managing Partner: “We fully support the plans the Greetz management has for the Netherlands and beyond. The Dutch business model is excellently suitable to be used outside the national borders. The estimates are that these international markets will prove to be an important contribution to the future turnover.”

Dennis Atkinson, ePlanet Ventures Managing Director: “The traditional market for greeting cards is enormous with healthy margins, yet the current ‘printing on demand’ market share is only approximately 1%. The expectations are that this market share will increase to more than 10% by 2012. In our view Greetz has a significant potential, which is why we look forward to be able to contribute to the future growth of this company.”

Speaking on the occasion, Asad Jamal, Chairman and CEO of ePlanet Ventures mentioned, “Greetz exemplifies our strategy of investing in companies with a potential for category dominance. We firmly believe in the success of Greetz’s business model even in the current economic downturn. ePlanet will significantly add value to Greetz in their Europe-wide expansion plans.”

About Greetz

Greetz is the first online service where you can create and send personalised greeting cards. Greetz helps you to be attentive at and involved in those moments when you want to do some special for someone. The sender determines what the greeting card will look like. You can choose from a greeting card with your own photograph or select an illustration from the more than 3500 illustrations in our collection. Furthermore, you also decide the text and all other design aspects of the greeting card. Greetz guarantees that a card which was created before 15:00 hours will be sent to the recipient on that same day. This is how Greetz operated in recent years, and sent more than seven million greeting cards! Recently Greetz was awarded the prestigious Red Herring 100 Europe, as one of the most promising European technology companies. In 2008 Greetz also ranked third on the Deloitte “Technology fast 50,” a listing in which fast growing Dutch technology companies are mutually compared. Greetz has its established offices in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands and currently has more than 25 employees. Greetz is certified as Thuiswinkel Waarborg (Dutch certificate for reliable home shopping service). Greetz® is a registered trademark. www.greetz.nl

About ePlanet Ventures

ePlanet Ventures is a leading global venture capital firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, with international offices in London, New Delhi, Bangalore, Shanghai, and Beijing, as well as a presence in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo. ePlanet Ventures has funded over 80 innovative high-growth companies world-wide, including landmark deals Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), Skype (sold to eBay for approx. US$3B in 2005), and Focus Media (NASDAQ:FMCN). ePlanet is one of the leaders in promoting the cross-border migration of technological innovation, business models and entrepreneurship. The Firm has made investments in sectors such as the Internet (consumer Internet, Internet services and applications), wireless communications and applications, VoIP and other broadband services, entertainment, semiconductor design, life sciences and other emerging services sectors. ePlanet also seeks to make investments in traditional, established industries where business-model improvements have the power to create category-dominant companies in the world’s fastest growing markets. The firm has won the China Venture Capital Association Exit of the Year 2005 for Baidu, and the European Venture Capital Association Deal of the Year 2005 Award for Skype, and has been profiled in FORBES Feb. 2007 as a “Pioneer in Global Venture Capital.” Asad Jamal, Chairman and CEO of ePlanet Ventures was recently profiled in FORBES MIDAS List 2008 as a top 10 venture capitalists in the world.
Contacts

Greetz
Johan van Vulpen, 023 – 566 68 10
johan.van.vulpen {at} Greetz(.)com
or
ePlanet Ventures
Rupam Shrivastava, 408-236-6501
info {at} eplanetventures(.)com