Invention Machine Secures additional $5 Million Round; Trident Capital Funds Enterprise Software and Services Company Focused on Innovation Solution

    BOSTON--April 15, 2003--Invention Machine Corporation (www.invention-machine.com), the leading provider of Enterprise Innovation Software and Services to the Global 5000, announced today the completion of a $5 million round of financing with Trident Capital. This amount is in addition to the $ 7.5 million secured by Invention Machine in July 2002 bringing cumulative funding for this round to $12.5 million. The additional investment will help fuel Invention Machine's broadening penetration of the Global 5000 and the continued rollout of the Goldfire(TM) platform-a scalable enterprise solution that empowers organizations to enhance their knowledge retrieval capabilities and increase efficiency in their innovation processes.
    Mark E. Atkins, President and CEO at Invention Machine, stated: "Given the challenging environment for technology companies at this time, we are excited to have Trident Capital as the lead investor. Our vision is to help companies effectively accelerate their innovation practices to be the first to market, and to quickly realize the returns on their innovation initiatives by gaining a greater market share for their product offerings."
    Venetia Kontogouris, managing director at Trident Capital, said: "In this increasingly competitive environment, we believe that successful companies will have to do a better job in managing their R&D portfolios, accelerating innovation and protecting and leveraging their intellectual assets. We are also very excited to be able to team up with Invention Machines and its advanced semantic technology in providing clients with a decision-support system for critical Innovation management," Kontogouris concluded.
    Invention Machine's flagship platform, Goldfire, enables companies to streamline knowledge flow across organizational boundaries by leveraging its natural language processing technology for precise knowledge retrieval of internal industry expertise. Goldfire incorporates powerful analytical applications to accelerate the creation of novel solutions for technology optimization.
    Invention Machine plans to use the funding to support broader sales penetration into its extensive customer base and expand into new industries, beyond its automotive, aerospace and defense, petrochemical, consumer goods, consumer electronics, and pharmaceutical sectors.

    About Invention Machine

    Invention Machine provides enterprise Innovation Software and Services to the Global 5000. Its scalable enterprise solution empowers organizations to enhance their knowledge retrieval capabilities and increase efficiency in their innovation processes. Serving a broad range of R&D rich industries, Invention Machine's clients include Shell, Northrop Grumman, Delphi, Saipem, NASA, Procter&Gamble, DaimlerChrysler, Honda, Samsung, Boeing, and Roche. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Invention Machine has development facilities in Minsk, Belarus, and offices in France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. For more information on Invention Machine visit our website at www.invention-machine.com.

    About Trident Capital

    Founded in 1993, Trident Capital is a venture capital firm dedicated to helping outstanding entrepreneurs build world-class information technology companies. Trident Capital, with offices in Palo Alto, Westport, Chicago and Los Angeles, has eight investment professionals and $ 1.2 billion under management. The firm is currently investing its fifth fund, which has committed approximately 15% of the $519 million fund. To find out more, visit our web site: www.tridentcap.com.