Laszlo Systems Secures $5 Million in Venture Funding Led By New Investor Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners

Initial Investors, General Catalyst Partners and Sofinnova Ventures, Also Participate in Latest Round; Funding Allows Company to Build Upon Tremendous Momentum of Recent Open Source Announcement

SAN FRANCISCO (October 13, 2004) - Laszlo Systems, developer of the Laszlo open source platform and provider of rich internet applications and services, today announced the first installment of the company's Series B funding with $5 million secured. New investor Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners (MCVP) led the round, with strong participation from existing investors General Catalyst Partners and Sofinnova Ventures. The company will use the new funds to provide expanded service offerings, develop additional commercial application modules using the Laszlo platform, and build out its marketing and sales programs.

Laszlo also announced that MCVP's Mark Kawahara, an investment partner, has joined Laszlo's board of directors. Kawahara has more than 10 years of experience in various IT sectors and provides assistance to companies looking to expand their businesses globally.

"Laszlo's technology is changing the way people view, use and develop Web applications," said Kawahara. "This is a strategic investment for our organization as Laszlo's technology is ideally suited for enabling rich applications that dramatically improve the end user's Internet experience. As a board member, I intend to lend my extensive IT industry experience to accelerate Laszlo's global adoption. Visionary Web technologies, such as Laszlo's open source platform, are experiencing rapid acceptance in Japan, and our relationships with Japanese companies will help further Laszlo's adoption in this region."

Steve Ciesinski, President and CEO of Laszlo Systems, said, "This latest round of funding validates Laszlo's leadership role in the development of rich internet applications. Mitsui is an established, well-respected venture investor in the IT industry, and its support greatly strengthens Laszlo's global presence." He continued, "Moreover, the commitment Laszlo has received from its investors will enable us to dramatically expand both our development and market-focused activities."

Last week at the Web 2.0 Conference in San Francisco, Laszlo Systems received strong, positive responses to its announcement that the entire Laszlo platform is now available as open source under the Common Public License. Laszlo's innovative platform is a standards-based presentation layer technology and application framework that delivers zero-install, rich internet applications in any standard Web browser today. The result is a more dynamic experience for end-users, leading to improved completion rates for common Web-based activities such as e-commerce and e-communications.

"With its recent open source announcement, Laszlo has shown the developer community that the company is serious about furthering the use of the Web as an application platform," stated David Orfao, managing director of General Catalyst Partners and a Laszlo Systems board member. "This investment expands our portfolio of open source investments and we support Laszlo's goal to become the de facto industry standard for rich internet applications."

About Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners
Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners (MCVP) is a provider of early stage venture capital for various types of U.S. technology firms with a special expertise in helping to build their businesses globally. Over the years, they have invested in breakthrough technologies in the communication, software, information series, life science, and medical device industries and accelerated their growth. Located in New York and Tokyo, MCVP currently manages over $280 million in capital. For more information about MCVP, visit www.mitsuivp.com.

About General Catalyst Partners
General Catalyst Partners is a private equity firm that invests in exceptional entrepreneurs and technical founders who are building the software solution and technology platform companies that will lead innovation and transform industries. Founded in 2000, General Catalyst Partners leverages its principals' extensive operational, business development and technological expertise to provide portfolio companies with a catalyst for success through business building and partnership development assistance. For more information about General Catalyst Partners, visit www.generalcatalyst.com.

About Sofinnova Ventures
San Francisco-based Sofinnova Ventures, founded in 1974, has $600 million under management. The firm emphasizes a diversified investment strategy through financing seed and early-stage companies in the life science and information technology sectors. Historically, Sofinnova has been associated with leading companies such as Biogen, Collagen, Genentech, Printronix, Tandem Computers and Tandon. More recently, Sofinnova invested in Actelion, Aviron, Element-14 (Broadcom), InterMune, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Phone.com, Premisys, Seattle Genetics and Tumbleweed Communications. For more information, visit www.sofinnova.com.

About Laszlo Systems
Laszlo Systems is the original developer of the Laszlo open source platform and provider of rich internet applications and services that advance the web experience. The Laszlo Platform is an open source, XML-native foundation for building next generation web applications that increase customer conversion rates and brand loyalty. Laszlo provides comprehensive support services, education, and software modules so that any company can easily make the move to rich internet applications. For more information about Laszlo Systems, visit www.laszlosystems.com.

Laszlo is a registered trademark of Laszlo Systems, Inc. Other trademarks and registered trademarks referenced herein remain the property of their respective owners.