Roger Novak Recognized by Two Leading Industry Associations

April 18, 2007, Bethesda, MD - Novak Biddle Venture Partners (NBVP), the Greater Washington, DC metro region's premier early stage IT venture fund, announced today that co-founder and general partner E. Rogers Novak, Jr. has been appointed to the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) board of directors. Roger will serve a four-year term effective immediately. The board appointment was announced at the NVCA 2007 annual meeting in Washington, D.C. The role of the NVCA board is to set and oversee the overall strategic direction of the association.

Prior to joining the board, Roger has played a leadership role both within the venture capital industry and within the NVCA, serving as a spokesman and advocate for regulatory initiatives which promote a healthy U.S. economy.

"Whether it was congressional testimony emphasizing the importance of SOX reform, or active participation in our U.S. competitiveness initiative, Roger has consistently stepped up to represent the interests of the venture community, innovators, and entrepreneurs," said Mark Heesen, NVCA president. "Roger's specialty of nurturing young technology companies and innovations spun out of government labs and universities provides a unique perspective and we look forward to the insight he will bring to the board," Heesen added.

Roger Novak was also recently named the winner of the 2007 Early Stage East (ESE) Sal Buccieri Memorial Venture Impact Award. The honor recognizes an individual who has clearly impacted early stage technology and fast growth venture opportunities by providing the essential capital, extensive counseling and necessary vision to allow such companies to win in today's competitive environment. ESE, the largest venture conference specifically for early stage companies, is a non-profit organization dedicated to seeing early stage companies grow and succeed. Roger will be presented the honor at the 2007 Early Stage East conference on June 13th and 14th in Wilmington, Delaware.

"Early Stage East is proud to recognize Roger Novak's decades-long contributions to start-up companies, which are an instrumental component of a thriving U.S. economy. Roger has been involved with ESE from its inception and his support and passion for young, innovative companies are unwavering. Roger's impact on this region's early stage ecosystem is far-reaching and we look forward to many more successful years," said David Freschman, founder of Early Stage East and managing principal of Innovation Ventures, L.P.

Roger Novak brings more than 25 years' experience as a venture capitalist, angel investor and operating principal to both ESE and NVCA. During his career, Roger has served on many public, private and civic boards. He is the lead director of Blackboard, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) and serves on the boards of SpectrumK12, Synchris, Trusted Computer Solutions, Digital Signal Corporation and Revive Systems. He also serves on the advisory boards of several venture fund of funds, and the Department of Homeland Security's PREDICT (Protected Repository for the Defense of Infrastructure against Cyber Threats), and the Department of Defense's DeVenCi (Defense Venture Catalyst Initiative) program.

In 1984 he co-founded Grotech Partners, where two of his companies, Verity and Secure Computing, were among the top ten performing IPOs of 1995. Earlier in his career Roger led the investment banking effort at Baker, Watts & Co., where he served on the firm's executive committee.