No 8 Ventures Invests $2.85 Million in EDIS Intl.

PRESS RELEASE

No 8 Ventures Invests $2.85 Million in EDIS International
Start-up company plans to ignite global EBPP (Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment) sector with key technologies and major marketing relationships

8 March 2004, Wellington: No 8 Ventures, a leading early stage New Zealand (NZ) venture capital company and one of the managers of the NZ Government’s VIF Seed Fund, is pleased to announce that it will invest $2.85 million into EDIS International (EDIS) to fund the company’s product development and global expansion strategies. This investment is an important milestone in the relationship developed between the two organisations over the past two years.

“We are excited about the growth prospects for the EBPP market and EDIS’s ability to commercialise NZ technology and execute on the global stage,” stated Mark Edwards, Director of No 8 Ventures. “The industry relationships established by the EDIS team will be a critical ingredient in their future market success.”

EDIS’s EBPP technology transports settlement instructions to banks using secure banking initiatives together with full electronic reconciliation information. Currently this lack of payment-linked reconciliation information imposes significant costs on buyers and sellers. Consultants Celent Communication, in a 2002 study, estimated the administrative cost per cheque (check) at US$10-50. This represents a major market opportunity given that there are 14 billion Business-to-Business (B2B) settlements in the USA alone each year.

EDIS has a strategic relationship with Global eXchange Services (GXS).

“We consider the provision of electronic integrated settlement will close the loop on the electronic supply chain transaction cycle and thereby remove a barrier to small-to-medium sized companies needing to adopt Electronic Commerce” stated Ian Lister GXS Australia’s Chief Executive. GXS operates one of the largest B2B e-commerce networks in the world, managing 1 billion transactions for more than 100,000 trading partners including 60% of Fortune 500 companies.

“EDIS has developed world leading technology and key strategic relationships,” stated John Brabazon EDIS’s CEO. “It’s time to take advantage of the smart money now available and use all the marketing, strategic and company-building resources that a venture capital company like No 8 Ventures can bring to the table so we can create jobs and wealth in NZ from the ingenuity and hard work of our stakeholders.”

About No 8 Ventures:

founded in 1998, No 8 Ventures has more than $60 million of funds under management, which are invested, or available for investment, in seed, start-up and early expansion NZ based technology enterprises. Jenny Morel and Mark Edwards are the directors of the management company. Following an investment No 8 Ventures engages actively with the companies, forming partnerships with the founders and executives to help them grow significant international businesses.

About EDIS International:

EDIS International was formed two years ago with the express intention of targeting the e-commerce needs in the global marketplace. EDIS has developed and owns three Internet enabled solutions:
- EBPP
- Mission critical B2B trading via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and the Internet. This includes electronic catalogues; order placement; order tracking; invoicing; and shipping details
- Fixed asset maintenance

EDIS’s directors will be:
- Barry Dowdeswell, executive director
- Mark Edwards, No 8 Ventures, non-executive director & chairman
- Neville Fielke, Senior Vice President Global Strategy and Business Development for the Fosters Group Ltd in Melbourne, non-executive director & vice-chairman
- Michael Thomas, executive director

ENDS

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