Edison Venture Fund Invests in Pittsburgh-based True Commerce
Continues Investment Leadership in Pennsylvania
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ, October 5, 2004—Edison Venture Fund announced leading a $4 million investment in True Commerce, Inc., located in Wexford, PA. True Commerce provides software and network services that allow companies to transact with their trading partners using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The proceeds will be used to expand development, sales and marketing.
Edison’s Pennsylvania investment experience spans five funds and more than 35 investments. Edison has been the sole or lead investor in 30 Pennsylvania-based companies, including True Commerce.
“True Commerce offers compelling value to businesses that need to adopt EDI,” stated Doug Petillo, Edison Vice President. “The Company’s solution provides a cost-effective way to improve integration across the supply chain.” Doug Petillo, who is based in Edison’s PA office, joined the board. Pritam Advani, former COO of ETransport and an Edison Director Network member, also became a director.
“We are excited to have Edison as a partner. They bring industry knowledge, strategic counsel and a business referral network to help build a market leader in the EDI market,” affirmed George McKee, CEO of True Commerce.
Other successful Edison investments in Pennsylvania-based companies include: Assessment Systems, Eastern Telelogic, E-Transport, Fiberlink, InSoft, InnaPhase, Liberty Technologies, Longview Solutions, Nobel Learning, Octagon, Submicron Systems and Thermacore.
Edison is actively making new investments. In addition to growth capital, Edison finances management buyouts and corporate spinouts. Edison also purchases secondary stock from shareholders needing liquidity.
About Edison Venture Fund (http://www.edisonventure.com)
Established in 1986, Edison Venture Fund partners with entrepreneurs, service providers and other financing sources to build successful companies. Edison provides capital and value-added services to expansion stage
($5 to 20 million revenue), information technology businesses located in the Mid-Atlantic region. Initial investments range from $3 to 5 million. Edison typically serves as a sole or lead investor. In addition to providing expansion capital, Edison funds management buyouts, spinouts and secondary stock purchases.
Seventeen investment professionals are based in three offices: Lawrenceville, NJ, Bala Cynwyd, PA, and McLean, VA. Industry specialties include application software, financial services, pharmaceutical IT and electronic products. Edison’s successes include Best Software, BTG, Contact (ACT!), Dendrite, ETransport, Marcam, Princeton Financial Systems, Visual Networks, Vocus, and many information technology leaders, which have a combined market value exceeding $5 billion. Edison currently has $420 million under management and is actively making new investments.
About True Commerce (http://www.truecommerce.com)
True Commerce is a Pittsburgh-based EDI solutions provider founded in 1995. From the beginning, the company vision has been to provide small to mid-tier companies with a comprehensive, end-to-end EDI solution that is easy to implement and fully integrates with their accounting software. By leveraging the ubiquity of the Internet, True Commerce is able to offer a patent-pending solution that is affordable and more efficient alternative to traditional VAN-based EDI systems. Customers exchange over 6 million EDI transactions annually within a variety of industries, ranging from banking, hardware, grocery, mass
merchandising, healthcare and government.
