SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 10/01/07 -- Wikinvest, the wiki for investors, today announced the availability of its free, collaborative resource for investment research. Wikinvest brings a broad spectrum of practical information about companies, trends, and issues to a Web 2.0 world. Unlike conventional finance portals that display the same financial statistics, Wikinvest explains the deeper story behind an investment, giving investors the context needed to understand what they are betting on when purchasing a particular stock, or investing in a specific sector. The company also announced today that it has raised $2.5 million in a Series A funding round led by venture capital firm DCM to help expand and accelerate development of the site.

Why Wiki?

Just as Wikipedia revolutionized the encyclopedia by attracting a worldwide community of subject-matter experts, Wikinvest uses the power of crowdsourcing to help create a new kind of investment research tool that actively encourages community participation.

--  Invest in ideas, not just ticker symbols. Wikinvest presents
    information clearly and thematically, rather than requiring investors to
    think in the language of ticker symbols. At Wikinvest, investors can type a
    company name, but they can also start with an idea like the rising price of
    oil, the crisis in subprime lending or the success of the iPhone -- not
    XOM, C, or AAPL -- to explore investing opportunities of interest to them.

--  Relevant to a new generation of investors. The Facebook generation
    relies on the Internet, social computing tools, and a collective value of
    open information sharing.  In contrast, conventional investment research is
    a closed system, accessible only to institutional clients and ultra-high-
    net-worth individuals. Further, analyst reports written for an
    institutional audience often reflect only a single point of view, and
    assume an understanding of industry jargon, as well as complex business
    models.

--  Quality information. Investing discussions boards are notorious for
    rumor-mongering and name calling, with posts rapidly fall off the bottom of
    the page, and little incentive to post meaningful content. The wiki format
    encourages transparency and collaboration which results in the contribution
    of meaningful, high-quality content, because good content is retained and
    bad content is removed. Reviewing changes for spam and user vigilance
    protect against "stock spam" schemes common on message boards.

--  Addresses under-served markets.  At a time when most investment banks
    are slashing coverage on public companies, Wikinvest has the potential to
    cover "the long tail" of investment research: small (and, increasingly, mid-
    sized) "orphan" companies that do not have any analyst coverage at all.
    

Site Features at-a-Glance

Companies

Wikinvest divides company coverage into "Neutral," "Bull," and "Bear" perspectives so that investors can understand the range of arguments for and against investing in a particular stock. In addition, the site offers insights into movements in stock prices -- an ongoing frustration for individual investors who have limited research tools available to them.

WikiCharts

Unique WikiCharts allow users to annotate stock charts, explaining the price movements of hundreds of companies.

Concepts

Wikinvest offers a new way of organizing investment research around concepts, trends, and ideas rather than just companies and ticker symbols. Examples include solar power, the subprime lending crisis, and the success of the iPhone®. These articles explain which companies are affected by these concepts, and link to relevant articles so that readers can see the relationships between individual companies, products and macro-economic or cultural trends.

Quotes

"Today, investment information is largely quantitative, highly technical and generally focused on the needs of institutional investors," said David Chao, Co-Founder and General Partner, DCM. "Wikinvest is turning things around for the millions of individual investors desiring more context and collective insight."

Added Ruby Lu, Wikinvest board member and Partner at DCM, "Individual investors approach investment research differently. They need information that is concise, easy to understand, and presented clearly and intuitively. This is the problem that Wikinvest aims to solve."

"We always found that traditional finance portals all had the same financial statistics. It was 'death by ratio,'" said Parker Conrad, Co-Founder, Wikinvest. Added Co-Founder Mike Sha, "We wanted to create a resource that more closely paralleled the way people actually think about investing, tying companies to the important trends and issues that affect them. Wikinvest came out of this need for a one-stop shop that helps investors understand what they are placing their bets on when they invest."

About DCM

DCM is an early stage venture capital firm supporting entrepreneurs building world-class technology companies. The firm's partners manage US$1.6 billion and have funded leading technology companies including 2Wire, 51job, @Motion (Openwave), About.com (The New York Times Co.), All About, Arroyo (Cisco), Clearwire, Dang Dang, eDreams (TA), Foundry Networks, HireRight, Internap, IPivot (Intel), JCI, Neopath Networks (Cisco), nQuire (Siebel), PGP Corporation, Recourse Technologies (Symantec), Sigmatel, Sling Media, SMIC, and Vimicro. 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.dcm.com.

About Wikinvest

Launched in 2006, Wikinvest is an investing resource that aims to provide investors with clear, verifiable, and unbiased information about companies, trends, and concepts affecting the business world. Visit Wikinvest to contribute to or review quality in-depth research on companies or trends affecting investing at http://www.wikinvest.com/.

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Media Contacts:
Susan Etlinger
Horn Group for Wikinvest
415-905-4004
Email Contact

Ryan Sommer
Horn Group for Wikinvest
415-905-4027
Email Contact