Zaplet, Inc., Formerly FireDrop, Raises $90 Million From Leading Financial and Strategic Corporate Investors

Funding Accelerates Delivery of New Enterprise Platform for Collaboration and Workflow

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., October 17, 2000 - Zaplet, Inc., formerly FireDrop, today announced that it has raised $90 million in financing from the industry’s premier names in financial and corporate investing. Lead investors in this round included Integral Capital Partners, the technology investment firm that has made private investments in such companies as E.piphany, Agile Software and Interwoven; and QuestMark Partners, L.P., a Baltimore-based firm whose principals have led or managed private financings for SpeechWorks, Inktomi, BMC Software, and others. These firms were joined in this round by Amerindo Investment Advisors, Azure Capital Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Sands Brothers, as well as partners of Robertson Stephens’ Bayview 2000, Credit Suisse First Boston Technology Group and Texas Pacific Group. Strategic corporate investors included AC Ventures, the venture capital unit of Andersen Consulting; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Novell, Inc.; Oracle Corporation; and Research In Motion Limited (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry™ wireless email solution.

Zaplet will use monies raised to accelerate the delivery of its Zaplet™ Platform, which provides a new class of lightweight, collaborative applications for the enterprise that can be created and used by knowledge workers and delivered to the inbox or browser. Zaplet applications enable people to efficiently assemble, communicate, and collaborate independent of time, location and platform. Zaplet technology increases the effectiveness with which individuals and groups can make decisions and accomplish tasks within and across business domains.

“This round of financing ensures that we can execute at the level required for market leadership. We plan to move rapidly to drive widespread adoption of the Zaplet Platform and we’re pleased by the confidence that investors - both financial and corporate - have demonstrated in our future,” said Alan Baratz, CEO of Zaplet, Inc. “The Zaplet Platform provides the missing link in the Internet infrastructure that will transform the way people and businesses collaborate and transact.”

Zaplet’s investors represent some of the most distinguished names in the industry. Zaplet’s initial funding round was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm whose investments include Internet successes such as Amazon.com, America Online and Sun Microsystems. Individual investors include Joe Kraus, co-founder of Excite; Bill Joy, chief scientist and co-founder of Sun Microsystems; Art Kern, board member of Yahoo! and Digitas, Inc.; Esther Dyson, EDventure Holdings chairman and industry pundit; and William Sahlman, leader of Harvard Business School’s renowned entrepreneurship program.

“Zaplet has one of the biggest ideas that we have seen in a long time,” said Roger McNamee, founding partner of Integral Capital Partners. “It also has all the right ingredients to succeed - a revolutionary technology, a world-class management team, and now, the financial resources to execute on this immense opportunity.”

“Zaplet technology represents tremendous potential in the e-business market, as it allows greater communication and collaboration among companies, suppliers, vendors and customers in a seamless manner across a range of applications,” said Matt Mosman, senior vice president, Oracle Corp.

Zaplet technology, introduced in March for businesses, partners and consumers, can be delivered to the inbox, web, and even wireless devices. Using the Zaplet Platform, knowledge workers and developers can build and deploy lightweight applications that combine processes, application logic, and business rules inherent to making business decisions and driving tasks to completion.

About Zaplet
Zaplet, Inc., an Internet Infrastructure company, provides an entirely new class of lightweight, collaborative application software and services for the extended enterprise that can be created and used by knowledge workers and delivered to the inbox or browser. The Zaplet Platform, built upon the convergence of email, web and instant messaging, dynamically joins people, processes and applications in a shared, active workspace to improve productivity and commerce. Zaplet technology is used by USATODAY.com, ZDNet, Mail.com, and the Republican National Committee. Zaplet is based in Redwood Shores, Calif. For more information, visit www.zaplet.com, e-mail info@zaplet.com or call 650-620-2900.

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Zaplet is a trademark of Zaplet, Inc. All other names and terms are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Contacts

Joanna McMillan
Director, Public Relations
Zaplet, Inc.
650-620-3970
jmcmillan@zaplet.com

Julie Della Cioppa
Outcast Communications
415-392-8282
julie@outcastpr.com