Silicon Valley Veteran David Liddle Joins Board of Directors; Dr. Stephen Ambrose, General Larry Welch, and Master Chief Stephen Hillis Join Board of Advisors
San Francisco, California -- Military.com, the online home for the military community, announced today that it has closed $18 million in second round funding from U.S. Venture Partners and the Mayfield Fund. The funds will support marketing, development, and content for the portal (www.military.com). David Liddle, partner at U.S. Venture Partners, joined the Military.com Board of Directors. Military.com also welcomes three new members to the company's board of advisors -- Dr. Stephen Ambrose, General Larry Welch, and Master Chief Stephen Hillis. This second round of funding gives Military.com more than $23 million in investment from leading Silicon Valley venture capitalists. Military.com raised its first round of financing from the Mayfield Fund and Broadview International in the fourth quarter of 1999.
David Liddle, co-founder of Interval Research with Paul Allen, and founder of Metaphor Computer Systems, joins Michael Levinthal, General Partner at the Mayfield Fund, on the Military.com Board of Directors. Dr. Liddle was also recently nominated to the board of The New York Times Company.
"The tremendous support of our investors and advisors enables us to serve this important audience in an unprecedented manner," said Christopher Michel, CEO and Founder of Military.com. "David Liddle is a technology visionary who brings tremendous experience to the Military.com team."
"Military.com is extremely well positioned to create one of the most significant communities on the Internet," Liddle said. "We at U.S. Venture Partners are impressed by Military.com's management team and their ability to serve one of the largest affinity groups on the web today."
Military Leaders, Historian Join Military.com Board of Advisors
Dr. Stephen Ambrose, General Larry Welch, USAF (ret) and Master Chief Stephen Hillis, USN (ret) have joined Military.com's board of advisors. Ambrose is one of the country's leading authors, recently serving as a historical consultant to Steven Spielberg in his film "Saving Private Ryan." General Welch was the 12th Air Force Chief of Staff and also a member of the Joint Chiefs. Master Chief Hillis was one of the Navy's highest-ranking enlisted members.
Military.com's board of advisors also includes former Marine Corps Commandant General Carl Mundy, USMC (ret) and former Chief of the Naval Reserve Rear Admiral Thomas Hall, USN (ret). Each advisor brings tremendous insight and contributes greatly to the integrity, character, and quality of the site. "We're honored to bring together one of America's greatest historians, Dr. Ambrose, and military leaders like General Welch, General Mundy and Master Chief Hillis to serve this community," said Michel.
About U.S. Venture Partners
U.S. Venture Partners is one of the largest and most active early stage venture capital firms in the country with over $1.5 billion raised in seven funds since 1981, including a $600 million fund that closed in December 1999. To date, USVP has invested $700 million in more than 240 early stage companies in Internet, communications, software, semiconductors, medical and consumer branded opportunities.
About Mayfield Fund
Mayfield Fund was founded in 1969 and is a private venture capital partnership that provides entrepreneurs with the experience, resources, teamwork and vision required to turn new ideas and technologies into successful businesses. Mayfield Fund has $1.5 billion of capital under management and has invested in more than 300 information technology and healthcare companies that today represent a total market value exceeding $100 billion.
About Broadview International
Broadview is a leading global M&A investment bank focused on the IT, communications and media industries worldwide. Through a network of over 250 employees operating across the United States, Europe, and Asia, the firm assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and private financings. The firm is also a private equity investor in these industries in the U.S. and Europe.
About David Liddle, Ph.D.
Dr. Liddle joined U.S. Venture Partners after retiring from Interval Research on January 1, 2000. Dr. Liddle co-founded Interval Research Corporation, a laboratory and incubator for new emerging technology businesses, with Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft Corp. Prior to co-founding Interval, he founded Metaphor Computer Systems in 1982 and served as its president and CEO until the company was acquired by IBM in 1991. Prior to Metaphor, Dr. Liddle held various R&D and management positions at Xerox Corporation and its Palo Alto Research Center. Dr. Liddle was recently nominated to the Board of Directors at The New York Times Company. Formerly, Dr. Liddle served as a Director at Sybase, Broderbund Software, Borland International, Starwave Corp., and Ticketmaster Group, as well as numerous private companies, and as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Fe Institute. He has served on the DARPA Information Science and Technology Committee, and the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council. He earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Toledo. For his contributions to human-computer interaction design, he has been named a Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art.
About Stephen Ambrose, Ph.D.
Dr. Ambrose is one of the nation's foremost historians. He is a three-time New York Times best-selling author for "D-Day," "Citizen Soldiers," and "Undaunted Courage," and the biographer of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He is the founder of the Eisenhower Center and President of the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans. Dr. Ambrose provides regular commentary on the History Channel, and is featured in Roger Mudd's "Great Authors of American History" television show. In addition, Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks production company is developing Dr. Ambrose's book, "Citizen Soldiers," into a television miniseries.
Dr. Ambrose grew up in Wisconsin, where he earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin. He earned his master's from Louisiana State University and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. In addition to his extensive writings, he worked for over 30 years as a respected professor of history, teaching at several colleges and universities around the country.
About General Larry D. Welch, USAF (ret)
General Welch was the 12th Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. As Chief, he served as the senior uniformed Air Force Officer responsible for the organization, training and equipage of a combined Active Duty, Guard, Reserve, and civilian force serving at locations in the United States and overseas. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he and the other service chiefs functioned as the principal military advisors to the Secretary of Defense, National Security Council, and the President. General Welch is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) in Washington D.C., a federally chartered research center providing operations and technical analysis, and management and information systems design and development for the Department of Defense and other U.S. government agencies. General Welch graduated from the University of Maryland and holds a Master of Science degree in international relations from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. General Welch also completed Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Va. and National War College at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C.
About Master Chief Stephen R. Hillis, USN (ret)
Master Chief Hillis retired from the US Navy in February 2000, closing a 30-year active duty career with the Navy. Most recently, he served as the Pacific Fleet Master Chief to the Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet, one of the highest enlisted positions in the Navy. He was selected to Master Chief in 1986 and in 1990 assigned to his first Command Master Chief position. Master Chief Hillis' career includes Command Master Chief/Chief of the Boat assignments on the USS OHIO (SSBN-726), Commander Submarine Squadron SEVENTEEN, USS NIMITZ (CVN-68), Commander Submarine Group NINE. Among his awards are the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Navy Commendation Medal (four awards), Navy Achievement Medal (three awards), Good Conduct Medal (seven awards), Meritorious Unit Commendation (four awards), Navy Unit Commendation, and various other unit, campaign, and personal awards. Master Chief Hillis graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Southern Illinois University.