Keen.com's Total Funding Reaches $109 Million With $42 Million Third Round, Validating Business Model of its Live Answer Community
Keen.com shows explosive revenue growth and continues toward profitability, secures new funding from Innovation, Pyramid, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, and prior investors

SAN FRANCISCO—October 11, 2000—Keen.com, the Live Answer Community™, where people get answers to their questions over the phone, announced that it raised $42 million in a third round of funding, earmarked to bring Keen.com to profitability, increasing its total raised to $109 million and accelerating the already explosive growth of its business. Innovation Investments, LLC and Pyramid Technology Ventures, L.P. co-led the round, with additional investment from an affiliate of Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, and CNET Networks, Inc., and returning investors Amerindo Investment Advisors, Benchmark Capital, Impact Venture Partners, Integral Capital, Pivotal Asset Management and Vulcan Ventures.

"Keen.com has a powerful new business model that fuses the Internet and person-to-person communication, resulting in the fastest revenue growth I've seen," said Eric Greenberg, Managing Member of Innovation Investments and long-time, successful entrepreneur, having founded Scient (NASDAQ: SCNT), Viant (NASDAQ: VIAN) and 12 Entrepreneuring. "Since day-one Keen.com has focused on revenue and profitability, which is what it now takes for Internet companies to create and dominate new market sectors."

Keen.com's third round of funding will take the company through profitability. The company is the top-ranked question-and-answer site, with over 800,000 registered members and growing at the rate of a new member every ten seconds. More importantly, revenue has grown 60% month-over-month and the company was named a "Top Five Mover" in the NextCard eCommerce Index.

Keen.com has pioneered a new business model for the Internet called people-to-people (P2P); the P2P sector is expected to be a $6 billion market in 2005 (Source: Datamonitor, February 2000). Where traditional ecommerce companies generate revenue by selling physical goods, Keen.com makes money by enabling people to buy and sell information. Efficiencies result because growth is not bound by limitations of the physical world. Information has an unlimited supply and requires no storage or shipping. This "frictionless" model enables Keen.com to grow faster at a lower cost, resulting in rapidly increasing profit margins.

"Our customers, revenues and investors have all validated our approach in creating and leading the people-to-people sector," said Karl Jacob, Keen.com's CEO and president. "Keen.com is rapidly approaching its goal of being a part of people's everyday lives: the place where they get answers to their questions."

To get answers to questions at Keen.com, consumers browse a directory of people who can answer their questions, click on a person's "Call Now" icon, and connect for a live phone call. Because Keen.com makes the calls, consumers' phone numbers and other personal information are never revealed. People sell what they know on topics ranging from personal advice to computers to taxes by creating listings that describe their knowledge at a per-minute fee they set. Quality answers are ensured through Keen.com's consumer-based rating system and credential verification service.

About Pyramid Technology Ventures
Pyramid Technology Ventures is a venture capital firm with offices in both San Francisco and Paris. The company invests in high technology companies in the information technology, telecommunications and Internet industries. Pyramid Technology Ventures started its operations one year ago and has invested already in 14 private companies; FusionOne, Pentasafe, Sylantro Systems, Zantaz and others. Marc Cellier and Alexander Rhea co-founded Pyramid Technology Ventures.

About Innovation Investments
Innovation Investments is the investment holding company for Eric Greenberg. Innovation Investments is a substantial shareholder of Scient and 12 Entrepreneuring. Additionally, investments have been made in Loudcloud, Propel Software, TransMeta, Internet Appliance Network, Red Herring Communications, Netigy, Callisma,Witan Group, Webvan, Cirqit.com, Crossworlds Software, PlusFunds, Digital Media Campus, nQuire Software, Keen.com, MetaPack, BenefitPoint and several other companies. Further, Innovation Investments holds stakes in several prominant venture capital partnerships and hedge funds.

About Keen.com
Keen.com (http://www.keen.com) is the Live Answer Community, where you get answers to your questions over the phone. Keen.com makes the phone call, allowing you to talk with others without revealing your phone number or any other personal information. Those who have information to sell can make money by creating listings and charging a per-minute fee to receive calls - some members are making upward of $1500/week. Quality answers are ensured through Keen.com's consumer based rating system and credential verification service. Keen.com received its first round funding from Benchmark Capital and its second round came just 60 days after its launch with investments from well-known investors such as Integral Capital, Vulcan Ventures, eBay, Inktomi and Microsoft.

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