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The Ohio Capital Fund Finalizes Five Investment Commitments

Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher commends focus on Ohio funds

COLUMBUS, Ohio - March 30, 2007 – The Ohio Capital Fund (TOCF), managed by Buckeye Venture Partners, LLC, announced commitments to five venture capital funds, including four with offices in Ohio.

Bridge Investment Fund L.P. (Bridge), SunBridge Partners Technology Fund III, L.P. (SunBridge), and Chrysalis Ventures (Ohio) III, L.P (Chrysalis) all have offices in Cleveland while River Cities Capital Fund IV, L.P. (River Cities) is based in Cincinnati. SV Life Science Fund IV, L.P. (SV) is a national fund with offices in San Francisco, Boston and London.

“It is a privilege to announce commitments to this latest group of venture funds,” said Paul Cohn, regional director for The Ohio Capital Fund. “We are pleased to see a firm of the caliber of SV Life Science make a commitment to invest in Ohio life science companies. We are also happy to be able to back such high quality Ohio funds as their presence in the state is sure to have a positive impact on Ohio’s emerging companies.”

Established by the State of Ohio through legislative mandate, The Ohio Capital Fund receives oversight from the Ohio Venture Capital Authority (OVCA). This group is comprised of nine members, including seven members appointed by the Governor from the general public, as well as the Ohio Tax Commissioner and the Director of the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD).

“The Ohio Capital Fund is an innovative program with a critical mission to act as a catalyst for seed and early stage investing in Ohio,” said Lt Governor Lee Fisher, who also serves as Director of the Ohio Department of Development. “Of the nine funds, totaling $43.5 million, three were new to Ohio and two were able to establish Ohio offices primarily due to the actions of The Ohio Capital Fund. I applaud the foresight of TOCF in selecting these funds and look forward to realizing the impact on economic development in Ohio.”

The five most recent venture funds, targeted heavily in Ohio, focus on investing in emerging companies in the technology and healthcare industries.

Chrysalis Ventures, with a new office in Cleveland, invests in the healthcare services and technology, media and communications and business services sectors, primarily focused on early and expansion stage companies located in the Midwest and in the Southern United States.

"We recently made a strategic decision to open an office in Cleveland,” said David Jones, Jr., chairman and managing director of Chrysalis Ventures. “Ohio continues to develop as an integral part of our core investment region, and we are excited to be working with The Ohio Capital Fund.”

Joining Chrysalis in Cleveland, Bridge invests in early-stage health technology companies based in Israel with the intent of moving their portfolio company headquarters to Ohio.

River Cities is a Cincinnati-based venture capital fund investing in companies in the healthcare and information technology sectors. River Cities focuses its efforts mainly in the Midwest and Southeast United States.

The only non-Ohio fund announced by The Ohio Capital Fund at this time, SV Life Sciences, is a national fund with a multi-stage investment focus within the areas of health care services, biotechnology, biopharmaceutical, and medical devices. Bruce Peacock, an SV venture partner, has joined the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Technology Validation Board demonstrating SV’s strong interest in Ohio medical technologies.

While not concentrated in the health care industry, Cleveland-based SunBridge invests in early-stage U.S. based technology companies in the following sectors: computing, communications and manufacturing, including materials, semiconductors, components, equipment and software. SunBridge also has an office in Palo Alto, CA.

Application materials and information for prospective fund managers are available at www.theohiocapitalfund.com.

About The Ohio Capital Fund

The Ohio Capital Fund, a fund of funds, was established by the State of Ohio to help increase private investment in Ohio companies in the seed or early stage of business development. As of October 4, 2006 the Ohio Capital Fund had its final close with $150 million in commitments. The Ohio Capital Fund commits to invest in funds which will commit to invest at least one-half of the commitment into Ohio-based early stage businesses and special consideration is given to funds which are considered Ohio-based venture capital funds. The Ohio Capital Fund is managed by Buckeye Venture Partners, LLC (BVP). BVP is a joint venture between Cincinnati-based registered investment advisor Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc. (Fort Washington) and Peppertree Partners, LLC, a registered investment advisor based in Cleveland.

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