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Blue Sky Software's Outstanding Performance Attracts $17 Million Investment
LA JOLLA, Calif. — 19 May 1999 — The consistent growth and success of Blue Sky® Software Corporation, worldwide leader in Help authoring solutions, has attracted a $17 million investment from two leading venture capital firms. This equity investment by Geocapital Partners and HarbourVest Partners, LLC, will be directed toward expansion of Blue Sky's existing RoboHELP® product line, along with the development of new Internet-based product offerings and services. In addition, Lawrence Lepard, General Partner at Geocapital Partners, and Robert Wadsworth, Managing Director at HarbourVest Partners, will serve as members of the Blue Sky Software Board of Directors."Blue Sky Software is very enthusiastic about this investment partnership with Geocapital Partners and HarbourVest Partners, because it provides the resources to further expand Blue Sky's leadership position in the application Help market, and to launch its new Internet strategy," said Blue Sky Software CEO, Jorgen Lien.
Blue Sky Software's RoboHELP family of products allow a wide range of computer users to create Help systems for software applications, and structured electronic documentation for the desktop and the Web. By making information more accessible and functional, the advanced Help systems and electronic documentation developed with Blue Sky Software's products improve software and documentation usability. This in turn increases customer satisfaction and employee productivity, and ultimately reduces technical support and Help desk costs. In addition, companies are enjoying substantial savings by moving from printed documentation to Blue Sky's electronic documentation solutions. Blue Sky's products have become Help industry standards, winning more than 40 awards and making the company the global market-share leader in the Help authoring tools industry.
To date, Blue Sky's highly successful, award-winning technologies have underpinned 32 consecutive profitable quarters, and average annual revenue growth that far exceeds software industry averages. With this new backing, Blue Sky Software will be able to realize the maximum potential of its existing technologies, and fully deploy its new Internet/Intranet strategy.
"HarbourVest performs extensive market research identifying companies with histories of market success, strong growth and leadership potential," stated Rob Wadsworth, HarbourVest Managing Director. "Based on Blue Sky's present market position, we are confident and excited about the continued growth of Blue Sky's current applications and the potential success of the company's future Internet-related product offerings."
"Blue Sky Software has established itself as the clear leader in the market for Help authoring tools," said Lawrence Lepard, General Partner of Geocapital Partners. "By leveraging its technology, its customer base and its ability to execute, we believe that Blue Sky will quickly become as successful with its Internet products. This investment clearly fits our strategy of identifying market leaders in fast growing information technology and software markets."
About Blue Sky Software
Privately held Blue Sky Software (http://www.blue-sky.com/) was founded in 1990, and is based in La Jolla, California. The company's software products allow a wide range of computer users to create Help systems and structured electronic documentation for software applications, intranets, and Internet sites. Blue Sky Software is the world-wide leader in Help authoring, with over 250 million online Help systems currently in use that have been created using its products. According to an independent survey, Blue Sky Software is the market share leader in the Help authoring industry, and the company's products have won over 40 industry awards -- more than all other Help tools combined. These are just some of the reasons why the world's most successful companies (such as Microsoft, Deutsche Bank, Siemens Nixdorf, Arthur Andersen, EDS, IBM, Symantec, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Cisco Systems, Baan Company, Oracle, Walt Disney, and many more), rely on Blue Sky Software's leading technology for their application Help and electronic documentation needs. The Blue Sky Software family of products includes RoboHELP Office, RoboHELP Classic, and RoboHELP HTML Edition. For more information, contact Blue Sky Software at 800-459-2356, 619-459-6365, or information@blue-sky.com.