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EKOVENTURE CLOSES FUNDING ROUND AND EXPANDS GLOBAL PRESENCE

San Francisco, CA — May 26, 2008 — ekoVenture, Inc., the world's leading online adventure-travel marketplace, today announced funding and expansion, including hundreds of world class adventure-travel experts (ekoGurus) adding to their wealth of valuable travel expertise.

The ekoVenture platform, launching this summer, enables adventure-travelers to easily connect with the best adventure-travel suppliers around the globe. Guided by content from ekoGurus (travel experts), travelers dive into a wealth of information on thousands of destinations with real-time booking fully integrated into their adventure-travel shopping experience. ekoVenture has built a network of hundreds of ekoGurus including many adventure industry legends such as Jamling Tenzing Norgay, the son of Tenzing Norgay, who made the first successful ascent of Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hilary.

In addition to ekoGuru advice, travelers can also use peer content in an interactive web environment to help them identify the best tour suppliers, experiences and travel destinations. From diving on the Great Barrier Reef, to trekking through remote villages in the shadow of Mt. Everest, to surfing on the beautiful beaches of Costa Rica—travelers will find it on ekoVenture. Featuring the most popular destinations to the most remote imaginable, ekoVenture has assembled the best adventure suppliers from every region of the world in one online experience. These suppliers include some of the world’s most reputable brands and specialists such as GAP, Geographic Expeditions, OARS, Head Out Adventures, and Alpine Ascents - along with hundreds of others. They will provide thousands of unique experiences at undiscovered destinations to travelers this summer on ekoVenture.com.

ekoVenture investors Larry Bock and David Dolby are responsible for some of technology’s most successful investments such as Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX), Pharmacopeia, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCOP), Illumina Technologies (NASDAQ:ILMN), Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ONXX) and Caliper Technologies Corp (NASDAQ: CALP).

"Adding these prominent investors to the ekoVenture team validates our approach and enables the company to expand our industry leading supplier and ekoGuru network", said TJ Sassani, ekoVenture Founder and CEO. "We’ve built an unprecedented adventure-travel marketplace where travelers will find an incredible amount of value using our platform to book their favorite travel adventures. Travelers can interact with ekoGurus, research hard to find experiences, and book their unique adventure online all in one interface.”

Larry Bock, renowned serial entrepreneur and investor, was voted by Venture Capital Journal as one of the US’s top 10 venture capitalists. Mr. Bock is responsible for founding or financing startups achieving over $30 billion in market capitalization. “I know what it takes to build a successful company,” said Bock. “There is typically very little value in an idea, the value is in the entrepreneurs and the execution. After closely following the management team, I decided to invest in ekoVenture because they are one of the brightest and most creative start-up teams I have ever worked with”.

David Dolby, son of Dolby Laboratories Founder, Ray Dolby, is also an ekoVenture investor. “We stand alongside the team and are extremely confident that ekoVenture is solving two key challenges in the adventure travel market - few credible sources of adventure-travel information and high fragmentation,” Said Dolby. “We are 100% committed to the success of ekoVenture and especially like their double bottom line focus, where they are allocating 10% of their profits to environmental and cultural sustainability efforts around the world.”

"With the support of our world class investors and advisors, we are confident our approach is something travelers will embrace and suppliers will implement into their diverse methods of doing business,” said ekoVenture’s Sassani.

About ekoVenture:

ekoVenture is the world’s leading online adventure-travel marketplace connecting hundreds of adventure gurus, thousands of adventure suppliers and millions of adventure-travelers in one interactive web 2.0 enabled community.

Using the latest in web technology, adventure-travelers browse by destination, experience, ekoGuru advice, and activity as well as interact with one another. Once they find their perfect adventure experience, they can choose from a list of pre-screened reputable suppliers and confidentially book their adventure online at ekoVenture.com. ekoVenture enables travelers to click, share, and get there!

Adventure suppliers are provided with an optional no-cost backend to manage their inventory and trip departures, provided through an exclusive partnership with industry leading tour operator software company, PEAK 15 Systems. Visit www.ekoVenture.com for more information.back to top

EKOVENTURE HIRES RYAN MORRIS TO ACCELERATE CONTENT ACQUISITION EFFORTS

San Francisco, CA — October 2, 2007 — ekoVenture, Inc., the world's first web 3.0 enabled global distribution system for the adventure travel industry, today announced an addition to their content acquisition team.

Ryan Morris, ekoVenture's new Content Manager, will coordinate the efforts of nine ekoVenture content acquisition specialists and build out the ekoVenture customer database, which already includes over 50,000 adventurers and 3,000 tour operators.

"Ryan brings a strong background in marketing, management, and content acquisition", said TJ Sassani, ekoVenture Founder and CEO. "Prior to his professional experience, Ryan spent years traveling to over 40 countries on six continents, making him the perfect fit for this role, and we could not be happier to have him on board."

The adventure travel industry is littered with hundreds of industry organizations, tens of thousands of tour operators and even more travel agents. Consolidating a fragmented industry such as this is no small task, which is why ekoVenture has committed significant resources to building a world-class database and partnership structure.

According to Forrester Research, greater than 50% of all travel globally will be booked online by 2010. Deloitte highlights that 56% of all people currently booking travel leverage user-generated content when making their decisions — this number jumps to 71% when only pre Generation X'ers are considered. What's more, an astonishing 40% of all travelers document their travel experiences online in some form following their trip.

Mr. Sassani continued, "When we look at the numbers, all we see is opportunity to change the adventure travel industry for the better by bringing together adventurers and adventure tour operators with one easy to use web 3.0 enabled technology platform. With the addition of Ryan to our team, we have taken yet another step towards achieving these goals."back to top

EKOVENTURE CLOSES SEED FUNDING AND RELOCATES GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS FROM SYDNEY TO SAN FRANCISCO

San Francisco, CA — September 22, 2007 — ekoVenture, Inc., the world's first web 3.0 enabled global distribution system for the adventure travel industry, today announced that they secured an undisclosed round of funding to continue the company's rapid growth. Additionally, company executive management has decided to relocate the company to California.

The adventure travel industry continues to be the fastest growing sector within the overall travel industry, which outpaces the overall economy by 26%. The $350 billion adventure travel industry, seen in recent years as the darling of the travel industry, has experienced 20% growth year over year even during recent downturns in the US economy partly due to overwhelming global demand for adventure activities from emerging economies.

"ekoVenture launched operations in Sydney, Australia since our initial focus was in the diving industry and Australia is centrally located to the lion's share of the world's dive tour operators", said ekoVenture Founder and CEO, TJ Sassani. "However, following breakthroughs by our team and research on the activities of competitors in the adventure travel arena, we quickly shifted our model to include all global adventure activities much sooner than originally anticipated."

When asked about the decision to relocate the company to San Francisco, Mr. Sassani cited three primary reasons: world class talent pool, access to investors, and an established infrastructure.

"We're thrilled to have secured our initial funding and to be in our new global headquarters in what is arguably the best place in the world for a technology company", said Mr. Sassani. "We are well positioned for rapid growth and look forward to serving the long neglected needs of the global adventure travel industry."back to top

EKOVENTURE HIGHLIGHTS SUSTAINABILITY BRAND PROMISE AS CORE TO BUSINESS MODEL

Sydney, NSW, Australia — August 27, 2007 — ekoVenture, Inc., the world's first web 3.0 enabled global distribution system for the adventure travel industry, today announced their commitment to sustainability and promises to go beyond just reducing their own environmental impact.

One only needs to pick up the paper or turn on the TV to observe large global companies jumping on the sustainability bandwagon. While many have genuine intentions, many simply use the announcement to ease public pressures on other irresponsible practices.

ekoVenture has not only committed to implementing sustainable practices in their own operations but has also implemented two additional programs to help protect the environment, which makes their business possible.

First, ekoVenture is selecting brand partners who help protect various ecosystems around the world and is committing a portion of their profits to their cause. Second, ekoVenture will help their own employees live more sustainable lifestyles by offering financial assistance to those who choose to drive hybrid automobiles or install solar panels on their homes. ekoVenture has committed 10% of their profits to these two collective programs.

"Any organization can recycle or change a few bulbs in their facilities, but we feel that isn't enough", said TJ Sassani, ekoVenture Founder and CEO. "Beyond being a personal conviction of ours, the entire adventure travel industry depends on the environment, and we want to ensure that generations to come can hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu or dive the Great Barrier Reef and enjoy the same flawless beauty we are privileged to today."

Mr Sassani continued, "While initially some investors balked at the idea of allocating portions of our profits to such a cause, they are now all fully behind this brand promise, realizing not only the marketing value of this program but more importantly, how critical it is to the very industry that supports our business."back to top

EKOVENTURE LEADS GLOBAL EFFORT TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE ADVENTURE TRAVEL INDUSTRY

Sydney, NSW, Australia — June 12, 2007 — ekoVenture, Inc., the world's first web 3.0 enabled global distribution system for the adventure travel industry, today announced their plan to solve many of the ongoing issues in the adventure travel industry.

The adventure travel industry has seen rapid expansion in many areas over the last several years. The number of operators providing tours, the number of travelers seeking tours and the number of niche online destinations trying to address one small part of the market have all increased dramatically.

All of this expansion is ostensibly a good thing for any industry but with it has come fragmentation, which can make customer adoption difficult. In the adventure travel industry specifically, there are now countless sites that claim to offer total global selection, unbiased reviews or robust user content.

According to ekoVenture Founder and CEO, TJ Sassani, the challenge with these sites is that few of them, if any, actually offer what they claim. One aggregation site claims to offer total selection of adventure tours worldwide but only offers a few hundred of the hundreds of thousands of tours available. Others tout their sites as unbiased sources of reviews but are really commission-driven travel agents trying to sway adventurers to book with their outfit.

"Not only is there no centralized aggregation tool to search from the world's best adventures, but there is no branded and recognized user-generated content site to enable travelers to make informed decisions and book tours in one place", says Mr. Sassani. "Because of this fragmentation, adventure tour operators, especially the smaller, more remote outfits are often forced to pay high commissions to travel agents who sell their trips. We believe that the adventure tour operators are the ones providing the valuable service, not the travel agents, and we have made it our mission to help the operators increase their global exposure and increase their margins through our proprietary web-based technology." back to top

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