Second round of financing will allow online pets category leader to best serve customers
SEATTLE, June 14 --/PRNewswire/-- Pets.com (www.pets.com), the leading online provider of pet products, information and services, today announced it raised $50 million from leading online retailer Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), Bowman Capital, and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. Pets.com will use the second round of financing to continue to build its infrastructure and to best serve the customer growth that the company has experienced since its first round of funding less than 10 weeks ago.
"We are running hard and fast to make Pets.com the best possible customer experience, from product selection to customer service," said Julie Wainwright, CEO of Pets.com. "This significant investment allows us to support our plans to build an enduring customer-focused company."
"Whether you're shopping for your dog, or cat, or chinchilla, or just looking for a ferret hammock, Pets.com makes it easy to do something nice for your pet," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com.
Upon completion of its investment, Amazon.com will own approximately 54% of outstanding shares. The financing is expected to be completed later this month and is subject to execution of definitive documents and customary closing conditions.
In less than two and one-half months, Pets.com has taken significant strides to provide the ultimate online shopping experience for pet owners. To ensure the best consumer experience, Pets.com has brought the entire shopping process in house, from order fulfillment to customer service. The company recently opened its first distribution center in San Francisco, Calif., to accommodate a growing selection of products and to provide the fastest possible shipping. In addition, Pets.com has developed a full customer service staff and added a toll-free customer service phone number. Consumers can now call Pets.com directly at 1-888-321-PETS to place orders or gain additional information about the Web site.
About Pets.com
Pets.com is the online category leader for pet products, information and services. Offering the broadest product selection and expert advice from a staff of pet-industry experts and veterinarians, Pets.com gives pet owners the information they need to provide their pets with the best possible care. Pets.com is a privately held company funded by Bowman Capital, leading online retailer Amazon.com and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, a premier venture capital firm focused exclusively on software and Internet investing. Pets.com's management team has extensive experience in technology, e-commerce, consumer-driven companies and the pet industry. Pets.com was founded in October 1998 and is based in San Francisco, CA.
About Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 video, and No. 1 book retailer, opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest SelectionTM with free electronic greeting cards, online auctions, and more than 4.7 million book, music-CD, video, DVD, and computer-game titles. Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where people can find and discover anything they may want to buy online. As part of its efforts to provide the best shopping experience for customers, Amazon.com provides secure credit-card payment, personalized recommendations, streamlined ordering through 1-ClickSM technology, and hassle-free auction bidding with Bid-ClickSM.
Amazon.com operates two international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk in the United Kingdom and www.amazon.de in Germany. Amazon.com also operates PlanetAll (www.planetall.com), a Web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 150,000 movies and entertainment programs and 500,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to the present. Amazon.com also operates LiveBid.com (www.livebid.com), the sole provider of live-event auctions on the Internet.
In addition, Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient: drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for health, beauty, wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the online leader for pet products, expert information and services, at www.pets.com; HomeGrocer.com, the first fully integrated Internet grocery-shopping and home-delivery service, with operations in Seattle and Portland, Oregon, at www.homegrocer.com. This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, risks related to auction services, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, and strategic alliances. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 1999. Amazon.com, Amazon.com Auctions, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Internet Movie Database, PlanetAll, Earth's Biggest Selection, Bid-Click and 1-Click are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
About Bowman Capital
Bowman Capital Management, LLC is a premier institutional investor specializing in both public and private technology growth companies with over $2 billion under management. On the private equity side, Bowman Capital focuses on expanion stage companies related to the new Internet economy. Bowman Capital's private equity portfolio includes companies such as Arrowpoint, Chemdex, Mpath, Netcentives, PlanetRx, RemarQ, Six Degrees, Sycamore Networks and The Street.com. For more information on Bowman Capital Management, visit their Web site at www.bowmancapital.com.
About Hummer Winblad
Hummer Winblad Venture Partners is a premiere venture capital fund exclusively focused on software and Internet investing with over $200 million under management. Previous investments include PowerSoft Corporation and Arbor Software, as well as Internet companies Net Perceptions, AdForce, HomeGrocer, and Employease. For further information, please visit http://www.humwin.com.