SOFTBANK Venture Capital Names Metrowerks Founder, Greg Galanos, as a Principal Managing Director to the Fund
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — May 4, 2000 — SOFTBANK Venture Capital, which manages venture capital funds focused primarily on Internet companies, today announced the appointment of Gregory P. Galanos, founder and former president and CTO of Metrowerks, Inc., as a principal managing director to the fund.
"Greg is an extremely talented entrepreneur – he did an incredible job starting and managing the growth of Metrowerks," stated Gary Rieschel, executive managing director of SOFTBANK Venture Capital and executive vice president of SOFTBANK CORP. "He has exactly the type of senior operating experience our portfolio entrepreneurs demand. His rich background will be invaluable to our new practices investment strategy."
"I'm excited to be joining such a dynamic and experienced venture team," said Galanos, "I am looking forward to working closely with entrepreneurs in the Internet space to help them achieve their aspirations. SOFTBANK's extensive network of venture investments in the Internet provides huge leverage to any entrepreneur looking for time to market and rapid growth."
Prior to joining SOFTBANK Venture Capital, Galanos spent 22 years in the software development industry as a developer and entrepreneur. In 1985, he founded Metrowerks, one of the world's leading software development tools providers, producers of the CodeWarrior line of programming tools. He was president and CEO of Metrowerks until 1996 and president and CTO of Metrowerks until August 1999, when it was acquired by Motorola. From September 1999 to January 2000, Galanos was mandated with the development of the sector software strategy as part of the Office of the President of Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector (SPS).
Between 1978 and 1985, he assisted in the development of environmental mapping systems (GIS) for the James Bay Development Corporation and developed an extensive local area network for scientists in the Environment Department of Hydro-Quebec in Montreal. Galanos has extensive experience in managing the development, licensing and deployment of software development tools for desktop, consumer electronics and embedded Internet platforms on a variety of CISC and RISC-based microprocessor architectures. He holds an M.S. in Computer Science from l'Universite du Quebec a Montreal.
About SOFTBANK Venture Capital
SOFTBANK Venture Capital works with the best entrepreneurs to create the most powerful companies of the Internet economy. It has$2.5 billion under its management, over 150 leading Internet companies in its portfolio, and an unparalleled investment team of former CEOs and entrepreneurs, technology pioneers, senior executives from major technology corporations, and leaders from the investment banking community. Companies in its portfolio include BlueLight.com, BUY.COM, GeoCities, Ignition Corporation, Interliant, iPrint.com, MessageMedia, Net2Phone, Preview Systems, Terabeam, TheStreet.com and Toysrus.com.
For more information, visit www.sbvc.com.
About SOFTBANK
SOFTBANK Corporation (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 9984) is one of the world's Internet leaders. Through its ownership positions in more than 300 Internet companies and its unique, global approach to building Internet enterprises, it is able to realize unprecedented synergies among its group of companies. In the U.S., SOFTBANK is the largest shareholder in leading Internet companies including Yahoo!, E-TRADE, and ZDNet. In Japan, SOFTBANK's activities encompass online financial services, e-commerce, online media and marketing services, e-business solutions, and joint ventures with industry leaders including Microsoft, Cisco, Yahoo!, and the National Association of Security Dealers (NASD). SOFTBANK has established Internet joint ventures with Vivendi in Europe and with News Corp. in the U.K., India, Australia, and New Zealand; is building Internet ventures in Greater China, Latin America, and Korea; and is joining with the World Bank to help bridge the digital divide in some 100 emerging markets.
For more information, visit www.softbank.com.
CONTACT:
SOFTBANK Venture Capital
Ken Smith, 650/962-2064 [email protected]