Boom Boom Boom! Eons Closes $22 Million in Series B Funding Led by Charles River Ventures

50-Plus Media Company Continues Rapid Growth as it Challenges and Inspires

Boomers to Live the Biggest Life Possible and Celebrate Life After 50

    CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD, BOSTON, March 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Eons(TM), the
 50- plus media company for loving life on the flipside of 50, today
 announced $22 million in Series B financing led by Charles River Ventures,
 with participation from new investors Intel Capital and Humana Inc., as
 well as existing investors General Catalyst Partners and Sequoia Capital.
 The financing will fuel Eons' accelerating growth as it continues to
 inspire boomers to see, learn and be more on the way to the reachable goal
 of living to 100.
     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061116/NETH017LOGO )
     "We're very excited that Charles River Ventures is taking a lead in
 this round, especially given their proven track record of investing in
 companies poised to establish a leadership position in emerging markets,"
 said Jeff Taylor, founder and CEO, Eons. "Boomers are ready to play hard on
 the Web, and Eons is not only changing the way they connect with each
 other, but also how corporate America reaches this desirable demographic.
 Our active community, proprietary tools -- such as Eons' search engine
 cRANKy(TM) -- and expert advice are shaping a new era of activity on the
 Web for this audience."
     Taylor added, "We are equally pleased with Intel Capital's investment
 as well as the participation from our founding venture backers, General
 Catalyst Partners and Sequoia Capital, whose continued support is a strong
 endorsement of our market and our strategy."
     "Eons has experienced very strong market interest since its launch just
 seven months ago," said Austin Westerling, partner, Charles River Ventures.
 "We are excited about the prospects for Eons as it engages this new
 generation of spirited 50-plus adults who possess historical levels of
 purchasing power. Additionally, Eons has assembled a world-class team in a
 space that is virtually unaddressed by other social networking sites."
     The rapid adoption of eons.com reflects the unmet demand among 50-plus
 online adults for a destination created by and for them. Eons continues to
 develop intelligence on the hearts and minds of its members through a
 robust social networking platform and exclusive, database-driven products.
 Nearly 75 percent of all members, for example, have taken The Eons
 Longevity Calculator -- a 40-question quiz that predicts longevity and
 provides personalized health advice. LifeDreams(TM), which allows members
 to create and tackle a personalized list of life goals, enables Eons to
 aggregate a master index of intent as Eons matches users' dreams with
 relevant providers.
     "Eons is creatively building communities online to deliver services and
 benefits to an underserved and growing segment of consumers as they
 increasingly embrace digital living," said Angela Biever, vice president
 and managing director, Intel Capital. "We are pleased to work with Eons CEO
 Jeff Taylor, a proven brand builder."
     Taylor added, "In addition to Intel's support, the investment by Humana
 is significant because Humana joined us as an Eons Corporate Founding
 Partner when we launched. They have been with us since the beginning, and
 having Humana help fund our growth sends a strong signal to the marketing
 community regarding the value of the Eons platform in helping them connect
 with the largest and most powerful consumer segment ever. You know what's
 coming . . . Boom Boom Boom!"
     About Charles River Ventures
     Founded in 1970, Charles River Ventures (CRV) is one of the oldest and
 most successful early-stage venture capital firms, with nearly $2B under
 management. CRV is dedicated to helping exceptional entrepreneurs turn
 their ideas into the next category leaders in the data communications and
 software and services sectors. The firm's investment returns are
 consistently among the highest of any venture capital firms. This superior
 investment record includes leading companies such as Cascade, Chipcom,
 CIENA, iBasis, Sybase, Sonus Networks, SpeechWorks International and
 Vignette. CRV has offices in Boston and Menlo Park, Calif. For more
 information, visit www.crv.com.
     About General Catalyst Partners
     General Catalyst Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in
 exceptional entrepreneurs who are building the technology-based companies
 that will lead innovation and transform industries. Founded in 2000,
 General Catalyst Partners leverages its principals' extensive operational,
 business development and technological expertise to provide portfolio
 companies with a catalyst for success through business-building and
 partnership development assistance. General Catalyst has approximately $1
 billion under management and is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. For more
 information, please visit: www.generalcatalyst.com.
     About Humana Inc.
     Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the
 nation's largest publicly traded health benefits companies, with more than
 11 million medical members. Humana offers a diversified portfolio of health
 insurance products and related services -- through traditional and
 consumer-choice plans -- to employer groups, government-sponsored plans,
 and individuals. Over its 46-year history, Humana has consistently seized
 opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a
 leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs
 and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer
 portfolio. More information regarding Humana is available at
 http://www.humana.com.
     About Intel Capital
     Intel Capital, Intel's venture capital organization, makes equity
 investments in innovative technology startups and companies worldwide.
 Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware,
 software and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health,
 consumer Internet and semiconductor manufacturing. Since 1991, Intel
 Capital has invested more than $6 billion in nearly 1,000 companies in more
 than 40 countries. In that time, about 180 portfolio companies have been
 acquired by other companies and another 155 have gone public on various
 exchanges around the world. In 2006, Intel Capital invested about $1.07
 billion in 163 deals with approximately 60 percent of funds (excluding
 Clearwire) invested outside the United States. For more information on
 Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit
 www.intelcapital.com.
     About Sequoia Capital
     Sequoia Capital provides startup venture capital for very smart people
 who want to turn ideas into companies. As the "Entrepreneurs Behind the
 Entrepreneurs", Sequoia Capital's Partners have worked with innovators such
 as Steve Jobs of Apple Computer, Larry Ellison of Oracle, Bob Swanson of
 Linear Technology, Sandy Lerner and Len Bozack of Cisco Systems, Dan
 Warmenhoven of Network Appliance, Jerry Yang and David Filo of Yahoo!,
 Jen-Hsun Huang of nVIDIA, Michael Marks of Flextronics, Larry Page and
 Sergey Brin of Google, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen of YouTube and Steve
 Goldman and Sujal Patel of Isilon Networks. To learn more about Sequoia
 Capital visit http://www.sequoiacap.com/.
     About Eons(TM)
     Eons is a 50-plus media company inspiring a generation of boomers to
 live the biggest life possible. Founded by Jeff Taylor, creator of
 Monster.com, Eons has attracted a team of renowned advisors and
 industry-leading partners and is backed by venture capital financing from
 General Catalyst Partners, Sequoia Capital, Charles River Ventures, and
 Intel Capital, as well as Humana, Inc. It is supported by corporate
 founding partners Harrah's Entertainment, Hyatt Corp., Humana, Inc.,
 Liberty Mutual Group, Fidelity and Verizon Wireless. The company is
 headquartered in Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, Mass. For more information
 about Eons media, visit www.eons.com and www.cranky.com.
      Contact:
      Bill Lane ext. 243
      blane@thecastlegrp.com
      Linda Walsh ext. 263
      lwalsh@thecastlegrp.com
      The Castle Group, Inc.
      (617) 227-0012
 
 

SOURCE Eons