51pegasi BV, a software solutions company serving the international sports market, announced today that it had closed a round of funding totalling € 1.8 million and led by
Siemens Venture Capital GmbH (SVC). As part of the investment, Dr. Uwe Albrecht, head of the Siemens Venture Capital Corporate Fund, joins the board of 51pegasi. Proceeds from the investment will be used to fund key acquisitions, further develop 51pegasi’s product range and expand sales and marketing activities.

“The sports event production market is large and consistently growing, making it an attractive sector for Siemens to pursue given our strength in building technologies, communications, lighting and
power,” said Albrecht. “We are impressed by the extensive network of the 51pegasi founding team, and the credibility they have earned in the marketplace.”

Dr. Peter van Gend, a member of Siemens One, the company’s enterprise-wide sales and marketing organization, added: “It is critical to understand the unique infrastructure needs of our customers, and also to be able to integrate technologies smoothly and seamlessly. By integrating products and services into one solution, Siemens can save its customers millions in startup and maintenance costs and position them more competitively with superior technologies. 51pegasi’s software is a compelling addition to our solution sets and will help us offer our customers more tailored offerings for their venues.”

Gilles Vliegen, 51pegasi CEO commented, “I am delighted that Siemens is joining 51pegasi and our network of business partners, investing in the synergies we will develop between our organizations. This investment from a global industry leader is another endorsement of how our IT software is driving advancements in the evolution of the world of sports production.”

About Siemens Venture Capital: Siemens Venture Capital (SVC) is the $600 million corporate venture organization for Siemens AG, (NYSE:SI) one of the largest global electronics and engineering companies with reported worldwide sales of $91.5 billion in fiscal 2004. The goal of SVC is to identify and fund investments in emerging and innovative technologies that will enhance the core business scope of Siemens, particularly in Information and Communications, Automation and Control, Medical Solutions, Automotive Technology and Transportation Systems, Power, and Lighting. With offices in Munich, San Jose (CA), Boston (MA) and through Siemens Israel, Ltd. in Herzliya near Tel Aviv, SVC has invested in more than 100 start-up companies and 30 venture capital funds, and plays a key role in the global network of innovation. SVC is part of a greater network at Siemens whose mission is to drive technological innovation by supporting start-up companies. In addition to Siemens Venture Capital, also Siemens Acceleration in Communications, Siemens Technology Accelerator, and
Siemens Technology-To-Business Center contribute to the innovation strategy of Siemens. Their individual mandates are defined according to financing stages and industry focus. For more information: http://www.siemensventurecapital.com/

About 51pegasi: 51pegasi is a new software solutions company with formed to serve the high growth international sports market. 51pegasi offers a turn-key software solution for sports event production management to event organizing committees, integrators, operators, sponsors, International Sports Federations and related media companies. 51pegasi offers a solution dedicated to the world of sporting events. We provide an open architecture and a suite of critical applications that helps sporting event operators and producers of any size to streamline their processes and the data they produce. All these components are integrated in a sports dedicated XML framework for legacy integration and reusability purposes. In addition 51pegasi provides tools to address the needs of International and National Sport Governing Bodies on an ongoing basis, including for the production of all their local events in order to support their efforts to develop their disciplines. 51pegasi particularly focuses here on solutions to support data exchanges within the network of affiliates of a Governing Body, as well as on statistics consolidation and distribution.

Media contact: Pascal Wattiaux. Tel: +33 6 11 37 97 31, Email: pascal.wattiaux@51pegasi.com