MENLO PARK, Calif., March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- PodTech.Network, Inc., a media company dedicated to podcasting and delivering Fresh Voices(TM) for the iPod generation, announced today that it has received $5.5 million in Series A funding from Venrock Associates, US Venture Partners (USVP), and Silicon Valley angel investors. PodTech started as a single podcast, InfoTalk(TM). In just under eight months PodTech has grown to become a leading producer, aggregator, and distributor of professional technology and business podcast conversations for audiences worldwide.

"PodTech has become the definitive source of quality, content-rich podcasts dedicated to innovating and extending the benefits of podcasting to mainstream users," said John Furrier, Founder and CEO of PodTech. "As a company, we were present at the creation of podcasting. We know it is time for a company to provide a professional environment and high quality filtered original content of fresh technology and business voices to the world of podcast listeners. With this financing we are now poised to deliver on our content development goals and to play a big role in the evolving ecosystem of this new media."

New Media Offerings From PodTech

PodTech is well known for its innovative InfoTalk(TM) podcast which has established itself as the leading Silicon Valley technology and business podcast. The Silicon Valley InfoTalk(TM) podcast has been host to some of the biggest names in technology and business. Notable personalities include Steve Forbes, Mark Cuban, and Sandy Berger, and hundreds of technology and media moguls. In addition PodTech has attracted leading corporations that include Yahoo, Intel, IBM, Juniper, among others.

In the past few months PodTech has innovated and expanded the InfoTalk model to include a new set of podcast media offerings. With this financing announcement, PodTech is launching the following media properties:

-- PodTech News: Dedicated independent podcasting news team -- PodTech InfoTalk(TM) Network: Dedicated set of PodTech original and 3rd party podcasting content -- PodTech Sponsorship Network: Aggregated set of sponsors and paid content

"Traditional ways of reaching customers with television and radio are costing more and more money and becoming less and less valuable because their audience is declining," said Paul Matteucci, Partner at USVP. "The opportunity to get rid of the middleman and deal directly with customers and prospects is very attractive and PodTech can do that through the net and podcasting," he added. Matteucci will become a board member of PodTech.

"People are spending more and more of their time getting their information and entertainment digitally on iPods and mobile devices," said Eric Copeland, General Partner of Venrock Associates who will become a board member of PodTech. "This is providing a tremendous opportunity for these new content ideas that don't exist in traditional media. When new media formats are created so are new brands. PodTech has emerged as the leading brand in the fast growing podcasting market."

PodTech was founded in May 2005 by CEO John Furrier. Furrier has over two decades experience in the computer and Internet business including positions in engineering, sales, and marketing at IBM and Hewlett Packard. Prior to PodTech, Furrier was founder of BroadDev Corporation, broadband, new media and venture development company. Before BroadDev, he was in executive management positions with RealNames and Labrador Software. Furrier holds an MBA from Babson College and a BS in Computer Science from Northeastern University.

About PodTech

PodTech is a media company dedicated to podcasting. It is a producer, aggregator, and distributor of professional podcast content for audiences worldwide. Its media channels include PodTech News, PodTech InfoTalk(TM) Network, and PodTech Sponsorship Network. PodTech has more than 15 corporate clients including Intel, Juniper, Yahoo, Symantec, and nVidia. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in Menlo Park, California. For more information go to http://www.podtech.net/.

About Venrock Associates

Venrock Associates was founded as the venture capital arm of the Rockefeller Family and continues a six-decade tradition of funding entrepreneurs and establishing successful, enduring companies. Today, having invested more than $1.8 billion in more than 400 companies over the past 36 years, Venrock is one of the most established venture firms in the United States. Its long investing history includes such companies as Intel, Apple Computer, Stratacom, Check Point Software, DoubleClick, Niku, and P-Cube in the IT sector, and Genetics Institute, Centocor, Idexx, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Illumina, and Coley Pharmaceuticals in the healthcare sector. For more information, please visit Venrock's website at http://www.venrock.com/.

About US Venture Partners

US Venture Partners (USVP) invests in a broad range of early-stage information technology companies, including those involved in wireless, IT infrastructure, semiconductors, and enterprise and technical software. Representative USVP public companies are: Sun Microsystems, SanDisk, AMCC, Verity, Check Point Software Technologies, MMC Networks, 3Dfx, Leadis, Nuance Communications, Centillium, Crescendo Communications (Cisco), Elantec (Intersil), StrataCom (Cisco), Xylan, Blue Coat Systems and Concur.

Contact: Jennifer Jones, Marketing of PodTech, +1-650-529-1416.

CONTACT: Jennifer Jones, Marketing of PodTech, +1-650-529-1416

Web site: http://www.venrock.com/

Web site: http://www.podtech.net/