BitTorrent Selects DCM - Doll Capital Management to Lead First Round of Funding

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 27, 2005--BitTorrent Inc., the developer of digital publishing software that enables cooperative distribution of large files on the Web, announced today that it has selected DCM - Doll Capital Management to lead an $8.75-million Series A venture funding round. BitTorrent's first round of financing will be used to fuel product development and support the global commercialization of its technology. The company also announced that DCM's David Chao, co-founder and managing general partner, and Tom Blaisdell, general partner, have joined its board of directors.

BitTorrent's revolutionary software empowers anyone with a Web site to make popular digital content available with speed and scale. Many independent and commercial publishers of media, videogames and software -- like Red Hat (Nasdaq:RHAT), Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq:SUNW), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and Blizzard Entertainment -- use BitTorrent for digital distribution. BitTorrent's most profound impact is felt among independent Web publishers like Italy's Telestreet, which uses the company's software to distribute video content to its grass-roots consumer audience based on a more favorable cost structure previously not attainable.

“Venture funding by a globally recognized investor is a critical building block in the evolution of BitTorrent. DCM's solid track record, global network and digital media smarts make them an ideal choice to take our company to the next level.”

Currently, there are more than 45 million users of BitTorrent's client software. The cooperative-distribution protocol represents nearly half of all Internet traffic worldwide.

"While BitTorrent already has become the de facto protocol for cooperative distribution on the Internet, DCM shares our belief that BitTorrent will become the ideal platform for both independent publishers and the world's leading media companies alike," said Bram Cohen, founder and CEO of BitTorrent. "We are committed to working with content creators and distributors to shape the future of media distribution, and to provide our users with a great product that brings their favorite videos, audio and software to their door-step."

Ashwin Navin, co-founder and COO of BitTorrent, added, "Venture funding by a globally recognized investor is a critical building block in the evolution of BitTorrent. DCM's solid track record, global network and digital media smarts make them an ideal choice to take our company to the next level."

"We believe BitTorrent's cooperative distribution technology will become the leading platform for the legal and secure distribution of large-file content for a wide range of commercial purposes around the globe," said David Chao. "By substantially reducing technology costs, the BitTorrent model will enable organizations across many industries to quickly and efficiently distribute value-added digital content to their stakeholders and consumers in volumes that, until now, have not been realized."

Web sites use BitTorrent to improve the economics of making digital files available online. Unlike a TV broadcaster, which can reach any number of consumers in a defined area for a fixed cost, Web publishers are challenged with the fact that each new downloader brings incremental cost. BitTorrent's technology significantly reduces bandwidth and server costs by taking a cooperative approach -- capitalizing on every user's ability to not only download, but upload to other downloaders as well. BitTorrent employs innovative algorithms that divide a file into many pieces and immediately and simultaneously sends them to multiple sources. In turn, the sources work cooperatively to quickly provide each piece needed to reassemble the file on users' computers. This type of cooperation can dramatically reduce distribution costs and enable publishers to feature even wider selections of content on their Web sites.

About BitTorrent

BitTorrent enables rapid, economical and secure distribution of large files on the Web. By reducing costs associated with digital distribution, the company's cooperative distribution technology lets organizations efficiently distribute a vast range of digital content. Privately held BitTorrent Inc. was founded in September 2004 by Bram Cohen, Ashwin Navin and Ross Cohen, and is based in San Francisco. For more information, visit the company's website at www.bittorrent.com.

About DCM - Doll Capital Management

DCM is a top-performing venture capital firm supporting entrepreneurs building early stage technology companies. DCM partners manage over US$1 billion and have funded leading technology companies including 2Wire, 51job (Nasdaq:JOBS), About.com (Primedia), All About (JASDAQ:2454), @Motion (Openwave), Foundry Networks (Nasdaq:FDRY), HireRight, Internap (AMEX:IIP), IPivot (Intel), JCI (Nasdaq Japan - Hercules:9424), Kabu.com (TSE:8703), nQuire (Siebel), PGP Corporation, Recourse Technologies (Symantec), Sigmatel (Nasdaq:SGTL), SMIC (NYSE:SMI), and UUNet (MCI). DCM offers hands-on operational guidance and access to an extensive network of resources, including close relationships with many of the Pacific Rim's leading companies and investors. For more information, please visit DCM's website at www.dcmvc.com.