Hillcrest Labs Secures Additional $25 Million in Funding

Series D Round includes AllianceBernstein, New Enterprise Associates, Columbia
Capital and Grotech Capital Group

ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillcrest Labs announced today that
it has closed an additional $25 million round of funding, led by new investor
AllianceBernstein. Existing investors including New Enterprise Associates
(NEA), Columbia Capital and Grotech Capital Group also participated in this
latest round of funding. Hillcrest Labs will use the funds to further extend
its pointer-based application creation platform and pointing technology to a
wide range of devices that control and display digital media.
"Hillcrest Labs has created an entirely new and potentially game-changing
platform for television and other forms of home entertainment," said Jamie
Kiggen, Senior Vice President of AllianceBernstein. "By combining pointing
with a graphical, 'zoomable' interface, their technology holds the promise to
fundamentally alter how consumers interact with their TV and digital media.
We're pleased to have made this investment and look forward to working with
their management team in the months and years ahead."
"Competition is intensifying, not just between traditional television
service providers -- like cable operators, telcos and satellite companies --
but also with consumer electronics manufacturers planning to make
'over-the-top' plays in home entertainment," said Peter Barris, Managing
General Partner of NEA Associates. "All of these companies face the same
issue -- how to enable consumers to easily navigate the thousands of content
options that are packaged with their service offerings. Hillcrest solves this
problem uniquely and will create significant value for its customers."
"We now have multiple deals with major companies that plan to bring our
technology to market in the near future," said Dan Simpkins, Founder and CEO
of Hillcrest Labs. "We aim to bring a new 'point-and-click' paradigm to the
television and beyond. This investment is further validation of our business
and technology. In the end, we're committed to helping our partners
differentiate their offerings by creating new ways to browse, discover, and
interact with digital media throughout the home."
In addition, Hillcrest Labs announced that it will demonstrate the
company's products and technology at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show
(CES) in booth location South 1 - 21531. They will also participate at
PepCom's "Digital Experience" press and analyst event
(http://www.pepcom.com/de-kit-web.pdf) on Sunday, January 6 from
7:00pm-10:00pm. Dan Simpkins, CEO, will speak on Digital Hollywood's CES
panel titled "The Connected TV and Set-top as the Consumer Gateway to
Entertainment & Information - Set-Top, Broadband, Guides & PVRs" on
Tuesday, January 8 from 3:00-4:00pm.
Founded in 2001, Hillcrest Labs' software has been honored numerous times
including the CES Innovations Award 2006, Gartner's Cool Vendors for 2006, and
Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice Award 2007. The first commercially
available product to utilize Hillcrest's patented Freespace(TM) technology is
the Logitech(R) MX Air(TM) Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse. Hillcrest's
Freespace Reference Kit (FSRK) is now available to companies that want to
manufacture Freespace-enabled devices. For more information about Hillcrest
Labs, visit http://www.hillcrestlabs.com.
About Hillcrest Labs
Hillcrest Laboratories (a.k.a. Hillcrest Labs) sells an application
creation platform called HoME, which enables consumer electronics
manufacturers and service providers to create unique interactive digital media
products for TV and other digital media devices. Applications made with HoME
are controlled by pointing and provide consumers an intuitive way to browse,
discover, and interact with large volumes of digital media. Hillcrest Labs'
pointing technology, called Freespace(TM), can be used in a wide range of
consumer devices including remote controls, PC mice, and game controllers. The
company's iconic reference device is the Loop(TM) -- a pointer-based TV remote
that uses just two buttons and a scroll wheel. HoME and Freespace have
received numerous awards including the CES Innovations Award and Popular
Mechanics' Editors Choice. Based in Rockville, Maryland, Hillcrest Labs was
founded in 2001 by Dan Simpkins. The company is funded by NEA, Columbia
Capital and Grotech Capital. For additional information, visit
http://www.hillcrestlabs.com.
Logitech, the Logitech logo, and other Logitech marks are registered in
the United States and other countries. Freespace is a trademark of Hillcrest
Labs. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Hillcrest Labs, Freespace, and the Loop are trademarks of Hillcrest
Laboratories, Inc.
SOURCE Hillcrest Labs

Jeremy Pemble, jeremy@jlmpartners.com, or Sharon Levin Rigbi,
Sharon@jlmpartners.com, both of JLM Partners, for Hillcrest Labs,
+1-206-381-3600