Having reviewed more than 200 early stage technology investment opportunities, the Santa Barbara Technology Incubator ("SBTI") has made its first investment in start-up Ants.com. SBTI had already been providing office space to Ants.com. The SBTI management team started providing other value-added incubation services immediately following the close of the investment. The Ants.com investment continues the momentum generated by SBTI since opening its doors just four months ago. SBTI has also closed one other investment, which is confidential at this time. SBTI is in extensive discussions with two other investment opportunities and is evaluating several dozen others.

"We selected Ants.com as our first investment because they have a solid and experienced management team in place and a business model that is more fundamentally sound than those of their competitors," commented Jason Spievak, Senior VP of Investments at SBTI. "Ants.com is further along than most of the start-ups we invest in, but their business model and rapid progress out of the gate made them an exciting early deal for us."

Ants.com was the first of several new start-ups to move into the Santa Barbara Technology Incubator facility, and they currently occupy the portion of the SBTI facility located on Edison Street in downtown Santa Barbara. SBTI is providing corporate marketing, web marketing and recruiting services for Ants.com in addition to helping refine their business strategy.

SBTI was one of four investors in Ants’ $3.6 million Series B round. Bertelsmann Ventures led the round, which also included investments from new investors Millennium Hanson and CommerceNet. Ants.com said the funds will be used for product development, ongoing operations and marketing.

About Ants.com, Inc.: With over 55,000 service providers and 23,000 service-buyers in more than 30 categories of project work, Ants.com is the fastest growing virally-driven marketplace for eCollar project work – expanding at a rate of about 20 percent per month. Ants.com is dedicated to creating the most efficient, liquid marketplace for the trillion-dollar worldwide freelance services market. Companies looking to outsource projects – from programming to marketing to design – can quickly meet their needs at Ants.com by tapping a pool of qualified professional service providers and independent workers in the world. Ants.com is a privately held company headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.

About SBTI: Santa Barbara Technology Incubator (www.sbtechnology.com) is the preeminent tri-county environment for financing, launching and successfully propelling high-technology start-ups to top-tier venture financing. SBTI constitutes one of the most complete incubator models by offering strategic funding, physical and operational infrastructure, and qualified hands-on guidance. Companies coming out of SBTI will enter the venture capital market with fiscal business discipline, qualified management teams and prudent, cutting edge business models. With a team of experienced professionals, SBTI provides web development services, investor relations, public relations and marketing, strategic planning, executive recruitment, state-of-the-art incubation facilities, and professional and technical services.