B2BXchange Partners With NewsEdge (NEWZ)
to Provide Custom Editorial Content to VerticalXchange Trading Communities Services to be Available for More Than 1600 VerticalXchange Business Communities
MINNEAPOLIS, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- B2BXchange, Inc., an Internet-based business-to-business software services provider and a VirtualFund, Inc. enterprise (Nasdaq: VFND), today announced that it will partner with NewsEdge Corporation (Nasdaq: NEWZ), a leading provider of eContent solutions for business web sites and enterprise intranets, to co-brand, integrate and deliver custom editorial content to more than 1600 B2BXchange(TM) vertical trading communities or VerticalXchanges(TM). NewsEdge specializes in the consolidation, management, and delivery of eContent for business. Industry and government leaders around the world rely on NewsEdge for editorialized, in-depth eContent services to help drive their eBusiness initiatives.
NewsEdge will deliver highly targeted global business news content directly to B2BXchange's VerticalXchange communities -- and into the hands of target audiences. Each industry-specific topic will be fully incorporated into the VerticalXchange site, providing subscribers with the day's top stories in headline and brief format. Each morning, the site will be stocked with fresh content from over 400 worldwide information sources, including The Associated Press, Knight-Ridder Tribune, Le Monde, Il Sole 24 Ore, Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Phillips, American Health Consultants, InfoWorld, News Straits Times, and Bridge News.
According to Charles White, vice-president of eContent Services for NewsEdge, "Demand for NewsEdge's new eTopics has been outstanding since our initial launch in May 2000. Key to driving this success has been the strength and experience of our editorial process that selects the most relevant content to support our customers' eBusiness initiatives. Through B2BXchange VerticalXchange trading communities, subscribers have built-in categories that separate news into specific industry markets."
B2BXchange allows businesses to engage in e-business, streamline internal and external processes, and share information with business partners, customers, employees and industry experts in Public, Partner and Private B2BXchange sites created with online tools and linked to one or more of its VerticalXchange trading communities.
"As volumes of information have become more overwhelming, businesses need a way to customize and prioritize their needs quickly," said Mel Masters, Chief Executive Officer of B2BXchange, Inc. "NewsEdge has spent more than 10 years refining the way it collects, sorts, and disseminates news to business users. By incorporating NewsEdge's eContent into our VerticalXchanges, we are able to provide subscribers with up-to-date information on their areas of interest. We expect NewsEdge to be 'live' on each VerticalXchange site by August 1, 2000."
"B2BXchange is 'The Gateway to the B2B Economy,'" according to Tim Crane, product marketing manager for B2BXchange, Inc. "Our intent is to provide aggregated content, collaboration and commerce to build and enhance business-to-business operations on the Internet. News is a major piece of that content, and NewsEdge offers the breadth and distribution capabilities that will make B2BXchange the place to go for the latest industry-related news and information. Ultimately, the aim is to broadcast customized content, finely-tuned to match the particular business interests of a department or an individual user. With the click of a mouse and free of charge, subscribers can access Internet tools, services and the Global Market Power(TM) offered at b2bxchange.net ."
About B2BXchange, Inc.
B2BXchange is a provider of Internet services that enable companies to build their businesses online -- fast! It is a fully incubated company established by VirtualFund, Inc. B2BXchange offers subscribers free access to basic applications that allow them to create an online presence and an electronic storefront. As the subscribers' businesses grow and they need more capabilities and ultimately more bandwidth, B2BXchange offers additional storage, bandwidth and more feature-rich applications to streamline their businesses. These additional features are available for a fee, ranging from $30 to $2,995 per month, depending on service level requirements. More information about B2BXchange can be found at b2bxchange.com
For more information about VirtualFund, visit the company's Web site at virtualfund.com
About NewsEdge Corporation
NewsEdge Corporation is a leading provider of eContent solutions for business oriented web sites. Differentiating NewsEdge is its core competency in refining and personalizing content via the company's editorial team of industry specialists. NewsEdge serves approximately 1,450 organizations, including 43 of Business Week's 50 largest global companies, with award-winning news and information solutions including eTopics(TM), NewsEdge Insight(TM), NewsEdge Live(TM), and NewsEdge Review(TM) topics. NewsEdge is headquartered in Burlington, Mass. with sales offices and distributors throughout North America, South America, Europe, Japan and the Middle East. For more information about NewsEdge Corporation, please visit the company's Web site at newsedge.com
Safe Harbor: B2BXchange, a VirtualFund, Inc. enterprise, desires to take advantage of the "safe harbor" provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). The words or phrases "promises," "expects," "will continue," "should," "is anticipated," or expressions of a similar nature denote forward-looking statements. Those statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or from those results presently anticipated or projected. The Company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE: VirtualFund, Inc.
CONTACT: Sandra Crowley for B2BXchange, Inc., 952-941-8687, sandra.crowley@b2bxchange.com , or Investors, Mike Dreis of VirtualFund, Inc., 952-941-8687 |
