June 23 2003   |   NewsTeam [Always On] — AlwaysOn, the media company that covers innovation in technology and business, announced today its highly-anticipated AO100 Top Private Companies. AlwaysOn editors compiled the list with assistance from KPMG's emerging business practice, KPMG 1Start. The two groups surveyed more than 1,000 venture investors, investment bankers, top entrepreneurs and executives, who nominated more than 700 companies for the competition.

The premise of the competition is that consumers and businesses are demanding greater access to the Web for more convenience and productivity, and these demands are beginning to drive the next boom in high technology.

"Consumers are just beginning to get a glimpse of the power of communicating and accessing content and services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and they want more," notes AlwaysOn Editor, Tony Perkins. "And if companies do not automate their businesses a la Dell Computer, they will be at a serious competitive disadvantage."

All innovators in their given technology sectors, each of the AO100 winners demonstrate leadership among their peers in at least two areas: market traction measured by revenue or customer growth and game-changing approaches and technologies that are likely to disrupt existing markets and entrenched players.

In explaining the selection process, Mr. Perkins notes: "Our survey proves that private company innovation is alive and thriving. We believe that many of the companies funded in the last 12 months will end up being some of the biggest names associated with the Internet. To raise money and win customers in this market, private companies must show that their products and services are an order of magnitude above what currently exists in the marketplace."

According to Packy Kelly, Partner in charge of KPMG 1Start, "We were surprised to see so many IPO candidates among the AO100 list. Given all the turmoil in the IT sector, we didn't expect to see so many companies with positive revenue and profit growth. Given the recent gains on NASDAQ, this could mean a very respectable IPO calendar for the second half of this year."

The AO100 companies will be honored at a reception at the upcoming AO2003: The Innovation Summit to be held July 15-17 at the Stanford Law School on the Stanford University Campus. At this reception, AlwaysOn will also announce:

In addition to Jeff Miller, Metreo's advisory board includes:

• The AO Company of the Year
• The AO Consumer Technology Company of the Year
• The AO Business-to-Business Company of the Year
• The Disruptive Innovation Award
• Top 10 Venture Firms of the Year

The AO100 Top Private AlwaysOn Companies by sector are as follows:

About Metreo's Solution
Metreo is the first company to offer an integrated price planning and execution solution to manufacturers, distributors, and service providers. With Metreo's solution, a company can set segmented price targets that optimize margin based on critical business drivers. It can then execute those prices across all channels, maintaining margin targets throughout the negotiation process.

About Metreo
Metreo Inc. is a leading provider of price optimization software. Through Metreo's Integrated Pricing Solution, global corporations are achieving significant profit improvement through better pricing decisions and disciplined price execution. Metreo is the only company to offer an integrated pricing application suite that ties price execution, analysis and planning. Metreo's solutions provide optimal prices that maximize business objectives in every segment, create an evaluation & decision framework for guided negotiation, and then adapt company pricing to changing business opportunities and customer buying behavior. Metreo's customers include industry leaders such as DHL Worldwide Express, Eaton Corporation, General Electric, and Honeywell. Metreo is located in Palo Alto, Calif. More information can be found at www.metreo.com.

AlwaysOn, LLC, is a privately held and virtually headquartered company born out of the heart of Silicon Valley.