June 14, 2002

Cambridge, MA Navigator Technology Ventures (NTV) announced today the closing of a Series A investment in their newest portfolio company, Sionex Corporation. Also participating in the $3.6 million round were Rho Ventures of New York and TechFarm, located in Boston. NTV has been working with Sionex, a spin-off from the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, since its founding in 2001. NTV worked with the CTO of Sionex, Dr. Raanan Miller, and an experienced CEO, Dr. Larry Kaufman, to bring the technology out of the Lab, and to grow the company, until it could seek additional venture capital.

NTV, an affiliate of Draper Lab of Cambridge, MA and led by Alain Hanover and Rana K. Gupta, is an early-stage, technology venture capital firm that seeks to fund technology rich start-ups. With the assistance of Draper Lab, NTV invests in unique, highly proprietary technologies. NTV's other portfolio company is Polychromix, Inc.

Sionex Corporation is commercializing a MEMS (Micro-electronic Mechanical Systems) chemical sensor based on technology Dr. Miller developed while at the Lab. While at the Lab, Dr. Miller also established a relationship with Dr. Erkinjon Nazarov (now Chief Scientist at Sionex) and Professor Garry Eiceman both of New Mexico State University. This highly experienced NMSU team in gas phase ion chemistry assisted in the characterization of the sensors. The Sionex sensor is unique in its size, sensitivity, cost and ruggedness. Sionex has identified several very large markets in which it will apply its technology to achieve breakthrough products.
According to Joshua Ruch, Managing General Partner at Rho Ventures, and the lead investor in the Sionex A round, "Sionex is ideally positioned to capture a large market share in the fast-growing chemical sensor market due to its revolutionary design. We were attracted by the disruptive technology and with the top-flight team assembled by the founders." Rho Ventures, based in New York City manages over $750 million in capital, with diversified investments across several sectors, including information technology, telecommunications, the Internet and healthcare. Venture investments have included Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST), Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), Commerce One (NASDAQ: CMRC) and Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ).
TechFarm, based in Mountain View, CA, with a satellite office in Boston, MA, is working with seed and early stage companies to bring the significant experience of its professionals to the entrepreneurs, to the enterprise at a time when it has its greatest impact. To date, TechFarm has worked with over 30 companies in a broad variety of industries such as semiconductors, IT and micro-devices.