Press release March 20, 2000

Insiders' Tip: Internet Operating System
Nutzwerk included in the German Hot 100 list

As of today, Nutzwerk GmbH is one of the 100 best start-ups in Germany. What all employees have known all the time was now confirmed by the authorities. The industrial technology service msc included the developers of the internet operating system OrangeGate in the list of the German Hot 100.

This is a compilation of the economic data and information on more than 100 stock exchange stars of tomorrow, gathered by the msc Multimedia Support Center in Cologne. Target group of the service (at www.gh100.de) are investors, from private "business angels" up to and including worldwide operating venture capital firms and investment banks.

The service gives early advice on promising German enterprises. Nutzwerk was included by the digital scouts in the list of the best because the company owns a technology called OrangeGate that enables all types of devices to be connected to the internet.

Just like Windows controls a PC and provides it with intelligence, OrangeGate makes the possibilities of the internet available to those devices where a software installation is not possible later on, for example to mobile phones. An additional functionality is provided by a server.

Internet in-a-box is an overall solution based on the OrangeGate technology. It is already distributed worldwide by four hardware vendors. With this all employees of a company get internet access with eMail, central address book and controllable online access. In the browser it can be defined who goes when and where in the internet.

When Nutzwerk got the news of the admission to the list of the best, they ordered champagne. "We are absolutely on the right way. Even other analysts, among them IDC, are expecting the market for information applications to explode within the next five years. But we have the advantage of having started the development over two years ago", says Nutzwerk CEO René Holzer.

Claus Moser of msc, who had a good look at Nutzwerk (www.nutzwerk.de), thinks the same: "OrangeGate is the only one of its kind. The technology is platform-independent and is suitable for providers of internet access via TV or WAP. It is ideal in connection with devices that do not allow for an add-on of software."

The assessment is accordingly: Nutzwerk gets full score in the areas of innovation and technology. In the two other fields, internationality (competitiveness on the international market) and scalability (potential for further expansion) the company gets 3 out of 5 possible points.