KANA ANNOUNCES UP TO $55 MILLION OF NEW FUNDING
Funding from Technology Crossover Ventures and Amerindo Investment Advisors Significantly Strengthens Balance Sheet
Menlo Park, Calif. - November 29, 2001 -KANA (NASDAQ: KANA), the leading provider of external-facing eCRM solutions, today announced that it has secured up to $55 million in equity financings consisting of an agreement for a private placement from Technology Crossover Ventures and a completed $10 million common stock financing from funds associated with Amerindo Investment Advisors. These financings significantly enhance KANA`s cash position as the company continues on its path to profitability.
KANA Response allows Allergan to define business rules to route incoming e-mail requests to the appropriate person. In addition, KANA’s eCRM contact center solutions are highly-scalable and can support increasing numbers of concurrent users. As a result, e-mails are now answered accurately in less than half the time it previously took for Allergan to answer e-mail requests, and the number of e-mails employees must respond to has also been drastically reduced.
Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), the premier provider of growth capital to technology companies, will purchase up to $45 million of convertible preferred KANA stock and has been issued warrants to purchase approximately 1.9 million shares of the Company`s common stock. Additionally, TCV General Partner Jay Hoag will hold a seat on the KANA Board of Directors. This financing is pending stockholder approval, which is expected in mid-January.
KANA Response provides world-class agent-assisted service with fast, high volume, intelligent, automated e-mail, Web, and instant messaging request management. The most effective and widely used e-mail management system in the world, KANA Response enables Allergan to respond faster and more accurately to customer requests, increasing customer satisfaction and employee productivity.
"This funding from marquee investors validates KANA`s position as the leading Web-architected and external-facing eCRM solution provider," said Chuck Bay, President and CEO of KANA. "Furthermore, this funding is a strong signal to our customers and partners that KANA is and will remain the eCRM market leader."
TCV, which is making its first investment in KANA, has a unique crossover model of technology investing, which provides venture funding in both the private and public markets. The firm currently has over $2.5 billion under management.
"We strongly believe that the winners in the eCRM market will be those technology vendors that can deliver effective, efficient external-facing solutions that turn a call center into a true multi-point contact center, and KANA stands out as the clear leader in this marketplace," said Jay Hoag, General Partner at Technology Crossover Ventures. "Our extensive due diligence verified that KANA has a very strong suite of products, deep technology and an experienced management team capable of building a very large business. Those strengths, coupled with the new capital being raised, position the company for extraordinary success."
Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc., which on behalf of its clients already held a substantial position in KANA, is a leading money management firm specializing in emerging technology and biotechnology investments. "With its market leading products and top-notch management team, we believe KANA is poised to capitalize on the enormous market opportunity in eCRM," said Matthew Fitzmaurice, Chief Executive Officer of Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc.
"These financings further strengthen KANA`s balance sheet and provide us with an extremely solid financial position as we head into profitability," said Brett White, CFO of KANA. "KANA`s ability to complete these financings not only allows us to strengthen our cash position but also enables the company to take advantage of the enormous growth and market opportunities ahead."
RBC Capital Markets served as KANA`s financial advisor in the placement of preferred stock.
Nearly 1,200 companies worldwide are using KANA next generation eCRM solutions to drive better relationships through effective, efficient interactions with customers at all points of contact (Web collaboration, phone, e-mail, live chat) and throughout the enterprise. The KANA approach to customer relationship management technology solutions combines sophisticated analytics with thin-client Web architecture to deliver extraordinary customer interactions that decrease costs and drive revenue.
About KANA
KANA (NASDAQ: KANA) provides the industry`s leading external-facing eCRM solutions to the largest businesses in the world, helping them to better service, market to, and understand their customers and partners, while improving results and decreasing costs in contact centers and marketing departments. Through comprehensive multi-channel customer relationship management that combines the best-in-class KANA iCARE Architecture with enterprise applications, KANA has become one of the fastest-growing providers of next generation eCRM technology. The company`s customer-focused service, marketing and commerce software applications enable organizations to improve customer and partner relationships by enabling them to productively interact when, where and how they want - across all touch points, including web contact, web collaboration, e-mail, and telephone. KANA`s global customer base includes Global 2000 organizations in the financial services, manufacturing, high technology, communications, retail and services markets. ADP, Chase, E*Trade, GAP, GM, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, Sony, United Airlines, Verizon, and Williams Sonoma are among the industry leaders that have implemented KANA`s eCRM solutions. KANA has locations in 22 countries worldwide, in addition to an extensive global network of channel partners. For more information, please visit www.kana.com.
About Technology Crossover Ventures
Founded in 1995, TCV is the premier provider of growth capital to technology companies. With its crossover investing model, TCV provides funds to expansion and late stage private companies, as well as public companies. Additionally, TCV manages a technology focused public market hedge fund, the TCV Franchise Fund. Over the past six years, TCV has invested a number of public companies, and over 125 private companies, 34 of which have successfully completed their initial public offerings. With over $2.5 billion under management, the firm has twelve partners and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.
About Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc.
Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc., "Amerindo", specializes in the management of concentrated emerging technology portfolios. For over 20 years, Amerindo`s principals have been investing in leading edge emerging growth companies specializing in electronics, biotechnology and health sciences. The Firm has long been on record identifying the dominant trends in technology and their impact on the global economy.
###
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Information in this release that involves KANA`s expectations, beliefs, hopes, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include statements about KANA`s expected financial position, profitability, growth and long-term success, its market position, and opportunities in its market. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to KANA as of the date of the release, which may likely change, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: risks associated with lack of market acceptance of KANA`s products or services; inability to enhance and develop our products and services within budget and on schedule; competition in our marketplace, including introduction of new products or services, or reductions in prices, by competitors; inability to attract and retain qualified employees, to manage cash and expenditures or to expand sales; inability to manage business in light of recent restructurings, management changes and personnel reductions; KANA`s history of losses; and trends and uncertainties of slow and uncertain economic conditions, particularly as they affect spending by our prospective customers on eCRM and similar enterprise software products. These and other factors are risks associated with our business that may affect our operating results are discussed in KANA`s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q.
###
NOTE: KANA is a registered trademark, and KANA Software, KANA iCARE, KANA Contact Center, KANA IQ, KANA ResponseIQ, KANA Response, KANA Marketing, KANA iCARE Analytics and the KANA logo are trademarks of KANA Software, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Jessica Hohn
KANA
(508) 653-4000
jhohn@KANA.com
Ken Peters/Jennifer Meyer
PAN Communications
978/474-1900
kana@pancomm.com
Heather Mirjahangir
For Technology Crossover Ventures
415/856-5110
hmirjahangir@bando.com
Back...
