Minneapolis April 16, 2001 Four51 Inc., a Minneapolis-based e-procurement provider serving the print materials market, announced today that the company has completed a $1.45 million financing round. This is the company's second round of financing, and comes from the same investors responsible for Four51's previous round of $3.5 million. In addition, Space Center Ventures, a Twin Cities-based venture capital firm, has joined as a new investor. Four51 enables mid-market businesses with an e-procurement network linking print materials buyers with their distributors and suppliers.
According to Rich Landa, Four51's CEO and co-founder, this round of financing is incremental and designed to bridge the company to profitability by the fourth quarter of 2001. Four51 also will use this financing to fund market expansion efforts. "We're unique because we've raised a small amount of capital relative to other higher-profile players in the e-procurement business," Landa said. "Our approach has been to raise only as much investment capital as we need to build a strong business. To a large extent, our need for capital has been offset by our revenue generation."
Four51's existing investors including New York-based Five Points Capital, United Capital Group, Dallas-based Bray Family Trust, Menlo Park, Calif.-based Rembrandt Venture Partners and San Francisco-based RS Investment Management are each participating in this current investment round.
"Four51 has made great progress in the 12 months since closing our first round," said Paul McNulty, Four51 director and managing partner of Five Points Capital. "The company continues to grow, generating great traction, strong revenues, new customer relationships, and establishing strategic partnerships with leading industry players. With its results, this round of financing is designed to help Four51 reach near-term profitability and long-term viability."
According to Landa, "With the continued support of our current investors, we're able to focus all of our efforts on the task at hand building a business to support the needs of our customers and the markets they serve. We're in this for the long haul, and we're focusing on building a significant customer base and a solid reputation in the market."
