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Press Releases | In the News | Media Contact Info
Press Release NTERCEPT COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES Omnicom’s Communicade is lead investor, along with Psilos Group, citing breakthrough online opinion research technology Company changes name to Ntercept from SpeakOut.com to coincide with funding WASHINGTON, January 29, 2001 – Ntercept Communications (www.ntercept.com), today announced that it has closed a $10 million second-round financing based on the company's revolutionary, patent-pending Internet interview technology and research services. The investment round was led by a strategic investment from Communicade, a division of the Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC). Also joining the second round was Psilos Group Managers, a private venture capital firm; and many first-round investors, including Constellation Ventures, an affiliate fund of Bear Stearns Asset Management, Inc.; CIT Group, the largest publicly-owned company in the commercial finance industry; and other individual investors. Coinciding with the new financing, the company has formally changed its name to Ntercept Communications, Inc. from Speakout.com, Inc., reflecting the company’s focus on the rapidly expanding market for online opinion research. Ntercept’s online survey engine is a breakthrough web-enabled technology that automates the research interview process, the most expensive and time-consuming element of telephone-based or focus group research. Ntercept enables clients to perform branded research events that combine the sample sizes and quantitative data of opinion polls with the qualitative, moment-by-moment feedback of in-person focus groups. Ntercept’s clients can perform research faster, less expensively and more comprehensively than was possible with traditional research methods. “As fewer people respond to traditional polls, the telephone, that old workhorse of opinion gathering, is rapidly giving way to a new paradigm in research,” said Ron Howard, Chairman and CEO of Ntercept. "We are delighted that an industry leader like Omnicom immediately grasped the value of Ntercept online surveys. We look forward to making research better, faster and less expensive for all of our clients,” Howard added. Omnicom, whose companies include advertising agencies such as BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide, TBWA Worldwide, as well as global public relations firms such as Porter Novelli, Fleishman-Hillard and Ketchum, recognized the broad applications for which Ntercept technology could be applied to instantly take the temperature of an online audience, whether for ad testing, crisis management, or message development. “Many organizations tout their research tools, but only Ntercept has successfully combined the best of telephone research and the focus group into one flexible, scalable product,” said Michael Tierney, President of Omnicom’s Communicade investment arm. With the closing of funding, Mr. Tierney, along with Jeffrey Krauss, Managing Member of Psilos Group Managers, will join Ntercept’s Board of Directors, adding to the current six-member Board who have served since the company’s founding in August 1999. The funding will be used to expand and execute upon Ntercept’s business strategy. Ntercept’s "ASP" business model will become the Internet enabler of opinion research for research companies, advertising agencies, public relations firms, media organizations and Fortune 1000 research departments. Ntercept expedites the entire process of opinion research by automating the creation of Internet-based, multi-media interviews, allowing client companies to receive rapid public feedback before making business decisions. Typical Ntercept clients include advertising agencies testing a variety of new 30-second spots, public relations agencies helping a company weather a crisis, or entertainment companies screening a new television show to a sample audience before deciding whether to put it on the air. Other applications include helping a legal team craft a new message or helping a publisher decide which photo to put on the cover of a weekly magazine. In general, any prior use of the telephone for opinion research is enhanced by Ntercept’s ability to add sound, video and graphics to online events. In partnership with MSNBC, Ntercept technology made its debut in August 2000, successfully reporting on the second-by-second impressions of thousands of users watching the convention speeches of George W. Bush and Al Gore. Breaking all previous records for simultaneous participation, Ntercept partnered with Fox News Channel in October 2000 to allow users nationwide to rate the Bush-Gore debates. After those trials, Ntercept was deployed for commercial use in November 2000. ABOUT COMMUNICADE Omnicom Group's Communicade division owns and manages investments in a group of market leaders involved in helping clients build their businesses in the digital economy. Communicade also provides assistance to other Omnicom Group units in the development of their digital strategies. Established in 1996, Communicade is now a key strategic component of Omnicom Group's professional services portfolio and a long-term shareholder value building block. By bringing the global resources and stability of Omnicom Group to its investments, Communicade has become the strategic and financial partner of choice for many of the innovators in this space. ABOUT PSILOS GROUP Founded in 1998, Psilos is a New York-based venture capital firm specializing in investments in early-stage companies in the e-health, new media and business-to-business e-commerce sectors. The firm applies the significant entrepreneurial, operating and investment experience of its principals and advisory board members to help its portfolio companies establish themselves in the market and build their long-term growth potential.
ABOUT NTERCEPT COMMUNICATIONS Founded in mid-1999 as SpeakOut.com with $8 million in venture capital, Ntercept Communications is working with research organizations, advertising, law and public relations firms and entertainment companies to change the paradigm of opinion research. Based in Washington, DC, the company has an expert staff of research professionals, Internet engineers, multi-disciplined business development team and senior management experienced in bringing early stage technology companies into fully-scaled automation. Ellen Ochs
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EllenO@speakoutfoundation.com