WHITE PLAINS, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 08/11/06 -- Portaga, Inc. (www.portaga.com), a leader
in intelligent travel booking tools, today announced the closing of a
Series A round of equity financing totaling $5.8 million. The financing
was led by the Ascend Venture Group and included First Round Capital, Cove
Harbor Partners and other investors. Proceeds from the financing will be
used to accelerate Portaga's sales, marketing and development efforts.
Portaga's vision is to provide a desktop booking solution in which the
software acts like a travel agent, intelligently assembling and optimizing
a solution for the traveler using content from Supplier "Direct Connects,"
Global Distribution Systems, web content and other external sources.
Portaga's desktop travel agent seeks to become part of the traveler's
normal workflow, enabling small to mid-sized businesses to begin treating
business travel as a normal part of the scheduling, accounting and
reporting process. Portaga aims at a growing market of small and mid-sized
businesses -- 51% of all business travelers representing 32 million
travelers and $9.2 billion in bookings. It markets through travel
management companies, suppliers and its website (www.tripsync.com).
"Ascend's investment provides us with the ability to address a market that
is today underserved by internet booking engines, and to do so in a timely
way," said Robert Kost, CEO of Portaga. "Our aim is to become a part of
the online travel infrastructure, available to users in a variety of forms
and a variety of channels. This investment will help get us there before
others."
"With its veteran management team, innovative technology approach and sole
focus on travel distribution, Portaga will quickly capture the leadership
position in the largest sector of electronic commerce," said Charles
Crockett, partner of Ascend. "Our investment in Portaga is based on the
belief that the structure of the travel distribution industry will change
rapidly in the next few years, and that Portaga is well positioned to take
advantage of these changes."
About Portaga
Headquartered in White Plains, NY, Portaga Inc. is the premier provider of
patent-pending smart connect travel management applications. Portaga is a
Microsoft partner and a member of the Open Travel Alliance (OTA).
Customers and partners include Avis/Cendant, Sabre, The Travel Management
Alliance, Atlas Travel International, Hickory Travel Systems, OpenTable,
TRIP Insurance and other well-regarded travel companies across the U.S.
The company was recognized as a technology up-and-comer at the 2005 DEMO!
Conference. For more information visit www.portaga.com and
www.tripsync.com.
About Ascend Venture Group
Headquartered in New York City, Ascend Venture Group is a venture capital
firm that manages approximately $150 million and targets investment
opportunities in applied technology and education. Ascend has a multi-stage
investment approach and seeks to partner with experienced management teams
to develop strong companies. For more information, visit
www.ascendventures.com.
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