Larry Kramer, Founder of Marketwatch, Joins Polaris Venture Partners as Senior Advisor

8/1/2007

Waltham, Mass.—August 1, 2007— Polaris Venture Partners today announced Larry Kramer, former President of CBS Digital Media and founder, Chairman and CEO of MarketWatch, Inc., has joined the firm as Senior Advisor.  In this role, Kramer will provide strategic guidance to Polaris’ digital media portfolio companies and help identify new investment opportunities.

Polaris’ digital media portfolio currently includes Athletes' Performance, the world leader in integrated performance training; Heavy, one of the web’s leading consumer media companies and the leader for 18-34 year old males; JibJab Media, the internet comedy network; The HealthCentral Network, Inc., a collection of Web sites that provide timely, in-depth, trusted medical information; Turbine Entertainment, a premier developer, publisher and operator of online entertainment including “The Lord of the Rings Online”™; and WordPress, a top blog publishing system with more than a million hosted blogs.

“We’re still in the thick of a major sea change as the media business evolves and embraces the internet,” said Alan Spoon, a managing general partner at Polaris Venture Partners. “Larry brings a wealth of experience developing successful new media strategies that will prove invaluable to Polaris and our portfolio companies.”

Larry Kramer first proposed the creation of MarketWatch as a joint venture between Data Broadcasting Corp. and CBS and launched the company in October 1997.  He led MarketWatch, Inc. through three acquisitions, an IPO and through its sale to Dow Jones in 2005.  Prior to founding MarketWatch, Kramer served as vice president of Data Broadcasting Corp., where he created DBC News, a predecessor to MarketWatch, Inc. Kramer also brings a 20 year newspaper career to his new role with Polaris, including experience as a reporter and Assistant Managing Editor of The Washington Post and as Executive Editor of The San Francisco Examiner.

Kramer has an MBA from Harvard University and a BA of science, journalism and political science from Syracuse University.  He currently serves on the Boards of Answers.com (NASDAQ:  ANSW), Creditcard.com, ContentNext, Harvard Business School Publications and the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

About Polaris Venture Partners
A national venture capital firm with over $3 billion under management, Polaris invests in seed, early stage and growth equity businesses in the technology, life science, digital media, enertech and consumer sectors.

Through a philosophy of lead investing and active, long-term partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams, Polaris has helped a number of companies achieve outstanding success. Among them are: Accordant Health Services, Acusphere, Advanced Inhalation Research (AIR), Akamai Technologies, Allaire Corporation, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, American Superconductor, Archivas, Aspect Medical Systems, Avici Systems, Centra Software, Classifieds2000, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Cushcraft Corporation, deCODE genetics, Exchange.com, GlycoFi, Matrics, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Paradigm Genetics, Powersoft, Solidworks, and TransForm Pharmaceuticals.