Press Releases

November 7, 2001

MindBranch^SM Expands into Hong Kong

North Adams, MA, November 7th, 2001 - MindBranch^SM, Inc., a leading provider of market-research products and services, today announced their expansion into Hong Kong. This follows an announcement earlier this year to expand into Korea through the acquisition of Outsource Korea, Inc., the foremost source of business information in Korea.

"This expansion into Hong Kong represents a pivotal move for MindBranch and opens up additional opportunities for our publisher partners to sell into the Hong Kong marketplace," said Arik Keller, Director of Marketing. "We have conducted an in-depth analysis into this market and hired an experienced executive, Hilleas Wong, to help us capitalize on this opportunity. The Hong Kong market remains strong and this is a good time for us to enter into this region," added Keller.

Within the Hong Kong market, MindBranch will focus on the telecom, computer/IT and financial industries. A 10-year history in the market research industry has earned MindBranch substantial client relationships that will extend to Hong Kong and within the next year, Greater China.

"We feel that the Hong Kong marketplace holds a lot of potential for MindBranch," said Doug Moon, CEO of MindBranch Asia-Pacific. "We are forging close relationships with our publishers and they are excited about the opportunity to expand into this territory with us."

About MindBranch^SM, Inc. MindBranch is a market-research services company providing research from leading publishers in more than 130 industry segments. Corporate headquarters are located in North Adams, Massachusetts, with additional locations in Seoul, Korea, and Hong Kong. MindBranch is a majority-owned subsidiary of Village Ventures, Inc. For more information, visit www.mindbranch.com today or call (800) 774-4410 or (413) 664-6185 if calling from outside the U.S.

About Village Ventures^SM, Inc. Village Ventures, Inc., is a financial services company focused on venture capital investing in emerging technology markets. The Williamstown, Massachusetts-based company provides financial services to a national network of early-stage venture capital funds.