KAL Closes $3.5m for First Round Funding

EDINBURGH, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-May 18, 2001--KAL today announced the completion of a $3.5 million initial round of funding financed by a group of United Kingdom private equity investors including Royal Bank Ventures , Scottish Equity Partners and CA Nominees, a group of Asian based investors.

KAL's Kalignite™ system is a Microsoft Windows NT or Windows 2000 component based software suite that is built upon acknowledged industry standards and provides a powerful framework for developing robust, interoperable ATM and Kiosk applications. KAL recently announced record sales figures for their Kalignite™ product of 3,300 units for the calendar year 2000.

Bill Troup of Royal Bank Ventures (RBV), the technology investment arm of Europe's third largest bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, commented, "We were pleased to be able to make an investment in an established business that combines an opportunity to invest in a core sector with the chance to utilise the Bank's in-house technology expertise. KAL operates in markets that we understand well. We are very excited about the software that they are deploying, and the way in which they are expanding market share."

For Scottish Equity Partners (SEP), Catherine Simpson added, "This was an opportunity to invest in a business that is clearly a leader in its field. Their market is truly global, selling not only to North America, Europe and the Pacific Rim, but also in substantial growth markets such as Latin America and Eastern Europe."

KAL's Chief Executive Officer Aravinda Korala said, "We are extremely pleased to have closed this initial round of funding. I think this investment demonstrates that companies with proven products in established markets that have a sound business model can attract funding even in the current investment environment."

For both RBV and SEP the investment in KAL was one of the first from their respective new funds established at the beginning of this year.


About KAL:

KAL is a software company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland with offices in the U.S., Japan and in Australia. KAL's flagship product is Kalignite. Kalignite is the world-leading software platform for creating web-enabled, hardware independent self-service applications built upon acknowledged standards (XFS, OPOS, others). It is a world-class development platform upon which complete solutions can be readily developed for all types of self-service systems. Many different applications in industries including financial, retail, telecommunications and others have been developed using the Kalignite system.

For more information visit www.kal.com or call Steve Hensley (VP of Sales and Marketing) at (513)748-0599 ([email protected])

About Royal Bank Ventures:

Launched in January 2001, Royal Bank Ventures Limited forms part of The Royal Bank of Scotland's Private Equity Group. It is a new technology venture capital fund that targets high growth technology, media and telecoms companies in the UK and Europe. Royal Bank Ventures makes investments, typically ranging from �1m to �10m, covering early-stage investment through to pre-Initial Public Offering, although larger deals are also considered. It targets businesses developing enterprise application software, internet infrastructure and communication software and hardware infrastructure, including wireless applications and technologies. Royal Bank Ventures has investment executives based in Edinburgh and London.

 

For further information contact Bill Troup, Managing Director or Douglas Fleming, Investment Manager Royal Bank Ventures, Edinburgh, Tel 0131 523 4936/2059

About Scottish Equity Partners:

Scottish Equity Partners is an independent, owner managed, venture capital company based in Scotland. It invests into start-up and developing high technology and emerging growth companies. SEP's investments have included many of Scotland's most successful technology businesses including Indigo Vision, Atlantech Technologies and Quadstone.

 

For further information contact Lucy Clarke, Marketing Manage, Scottish Equity Partners, 17Blythswood Square, Glasgow G2 4AD or [email protected]