November 10, 2010

Lot18 Secures $3M in a Series A Financing Led by FirstMark Capital

Lot18 completed a $3 million Series A financing round.
FirstMark Capital, a New York-based venture capital firm, led
the funding. Lot18 is a membership-by-invitation marketplace for wine. It plans
to use the capital to accelerate growth of its direct producer-to-consumer sales
platform. The round includes returning investors and angels from Quigo, Time
Inc., AOL, Ziff Davis, Bankrate and Experianr.

PRESS RELEASE

Lot18 [http://www.lot18.com], a membership-by-invitation marketplace for wine
from renowned producers at fantastic values, announced today that it has
completed a $3 million Series A round of funding led by FirstMark Capital, a New
York City-based venture capital firm with a strong foothold in the city’s tech
and entrepreneurial communities. With the new financing, Lot18 will accelerate
growth of its direct producer-to-consumer sales platform, providing members with
access to some of the finest wines, made available in small quantities and
limited runs. The round includes returning investors and angels from top
companies such as Quigo, Time Inc., AOL, Ziff Davis, Bankrate and Experian, and
follows a $500,000 seed round closed earlier this year.

“Wine e-commerce done smartly is a tremendous market
opportunity”
Producers struggle to generate consumer recognition and many
lack the pricing or negotiating power to ensure good representation at the
retail level. Though most wineries have websites that allow them to sell online,
it is often difficult to engage new customers who have not heard of, or tasted
their wines. Following personal sourcing of each product by Lot18’s procurement
team, Lot18 curates, reviews and presents the offer, with the sale and shipping
managed by the winery. This allows producers to engage new markets via insider
sales that showcase the winery to enthusiast members across the country.

“Wine e-commerce done smartly is a tremendous market opportunity,” said Amish
Jani, Managing Director at FirstMark Capital. “The U.S. is the world’s largest
wine market at more than $30 billion in annual sales, but with only $2 billion
sold online. Lot18’s approach is innovative because it matches interested
consumers directly with top wineries across the country by creating close
partnerships that allow the producers to really showcase their wine. The team’s
experience and expertise in wine and technology gives them the background to
create this exciting new platform.”

Founded by Philip James, founder of the world’s largest wine site,
Snooth.com, and Kevin Fortuna, a veteran technology entrepreneur, Lot18 evokes
the auction lots of old, where savvy consumers were able to obtain products at
incredible values.

“There are more than one million wineries in the world, and more than 25,000
sell wine in the United States,” said Philip James, Founder and President of
Lot18. “The average retail store carries 2,000 products. It is increasingly
difficult for a consumer to be knowledgeable about the brands they see for sale.
Lot18 will become a trusted source of high quality, well known wines, as well as
an opportunity to discover more exclusive, limited releases.”

Lot18’s partners at launch include Snooth.com and top wineries including
Cornerstone Winery, Boisset Family Estates and Foley Family Estates.

About Lot18

Lot18 is an exclusive, membership-by-invitation marketplace for wine. Members
have the opportunity to purchase wine at incredible values, directly from
producers across the United States. Founded in 2010 by Philip James, founder of
the world’s largest wine site, Snooth.com [http://www.snooth.com], and Kevin
Fortuna, a veteran technology entrepreneur, Lot18 evokes the auction lots of
old, where savvy consumers were able to obtain products at incredible values. A
member of Lot18’s procurement team personally sources each wine, and cultivates
a relationship with the producer that allows Lot18 to offer limited quantities
at especially low prices.

Lot18’s team is comprised of experts in user experience, e-commerce, and
wine. The advisory and investment team includes past and current management of
Quigo, Time Inc., AOL, Ziff Davis, Bankrate and Experian, among others. To learn
more, please visit http://www.lot18.com.

About FirstMark

Based in New York City, FirstMark Capital invests in ground-breaking
companies that are creating new markets with innovative technology solutions or
fundamentally changing existing markets by applying a fresh approach and new
business model. A venture leader with nearly $2 billion in capital commitments,
FirstMark’s team of investment and operations professionals have decades of
real-world experience and leadership in core technology markets, making the firm
uniquely qualified to offer industry insight, relationships and the operational
expertise to build lasting businesses. Select historical investments include:
Netgear, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR); First Advantage Corp. (Acquired by First American
Corporation; NASDAQ: FAF); StubHub, Inc (Acquired by eBay, Inc.; NASDAQ:EBAY);
Netegrity, Inc. (Acquired by CA Inc; NASDAQ: CA); Flarion, Inc. (Acquired by
Qualcomm, Inc; NASDAQ: QCOM); OutlookSoft Inc. (Acquired by SAP AG; NASDAQ:
SAP); Vallent (Acquired by IBM; NASDAQ: IBM) and Navic (Acquired by Microsoft;
NASDAQ: MSFT). Current investments include: SecondMarket, Riot Games, Dovetail,
Knewton, Conductor, Clickable and Lumos Labs. For more information, please visit
http://www.firstmarkcap.com.