DragonVenture Invests in Social Networking Platform in China

Palo Alto, Calif. October 29, 2003

Silicon Valley based cross-Pacific venture capital and consulting firm DragonVenture, Inc. has recently incubated and invested in eFriendsNet Entertainment Corp (“eFN”), a company offering social networking service through Internet and mobile phones in China.

With DragonVenture as the incubator and investor, eFN successfully closed its series A equity financing from reputable individual investors in U.S., China, Japan and Hong Kong. The operation will currently be exclusively in China, starting from major metropolitan regions and gradually expanding to wider regions in between. The business model is built on the increasing demand of seeking affiliation and relationship among peoples.

The plan also calls for the booming application of Location Base Services (LBS). The recent release of wireless technology and facility in China will bring the social networking to the mobile arena. China currently has the largest mobile phone user base in the world. With the attempt to ride the rising Internet 2.0 wave, which is probably more significantly so in China, the revenue model is projected as rock solid considering China has the second largest online population in the world next to the U.S..

The success stories of Match.com and the recent high-profile equity offering of Friendster.com further whet the appetite of local investors. Tim Draper of Draper Fisher and Jurvetsen, as the investor of eFN, commented, “I expect this platform to be a base of explosive growth for the company, which will lead to a major international corporation. It will also be an invaluable service to people who need relationship and connections". Other investors include the chairman of Hikaritsushin in Japan, early investor of EachNet and heads of major corporations and investment institutions in the U.S, China, and Hong Kong.

“Contact is the king, not content. This is the fundamentals of Internet 2.0 evolution. China market follows the step of US market in Internet 1.0 wave. And the successful launch of my venture indicates that China market is catching up very quickly in recent development”, said Mark Mai, the CEO of eFN. He is fully convinced that Internet and mobile phones can significantly facilitate the people to people relationship. Mark, an MBA from Anderson School, UCLA, is an expatriate of China and veteran in venture capital in China. He is also the Venture Partner of DragonVenture. Bobby Chao, acting as Chairman of the Board of eFN who is in charge of its funding and incorporation, commented, “The returnees that are born in the 70s are making history in China. Their vision and execution ability will change the landscape of business in China. And I will not be surprised to see them changing the world soon.” Bobby Chao is currently the chairman and co-founder of DragonVenture. He was one of the original founders of Cadence Design Systems and the former chairman of VA Linux.