NEW YORK, NY, Dec. 8, 2009 – The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), the premier trade association representing the venture capital industry, and SecondMarket, the largest secondary marketplace for illiquid assets, announced today that they have entered into an agreement to collaborate on a number of initiatives to support venture-backed companies and their investors.

“This partnership will help to advance the goals of both organizations,” said SecondMarket CEO Barry E. Silbert. “SecondMarket is resolute in continuing to support liquidity for private companies and their shareholders, and the NVCA is committed to supporting the expansion of exit options for venture-backed companies. In the current economic environment, when unemployment remains high, it is critically important to support venture-backed companies, which promote outsized job growth and economic development.”

“The NVCA is dedicated to enhancing the exit environment for venture-backed companies and their investors,” said NVCA President Mark G. Heesen. “We believe this collaboration with SecondMarket helps to strengthen the entrepreneur and venture capital communities by providing vital support to the many private companies that lack adequate exit opportunities. We are looking forward to working closely with SecondMarket.” To initiate this collaboration, the NVCA will host a SecondMarket-sponsored webcast on Friday, December 11, 2009, at 12:00pm EST. Panelists on this week’s webcast, entitled “The Root Causes & Potential Solutions for the Exit Crisis,” will discuss how the current market structure has created exit problems for venture-backed companies – and how this trend can be reversed.

SecondMarket and the NVCA will collaborate on a variety of other efforts, including conferences and webinars, the development of new C-suite programs for start-up companies, and sharing market intelligence and trade information. SecondMarket will provide a number of services at discounted rates to NVCA members, including the use of the SecondMarket private company program, and also will offer preferred commission rates on completed transactions.

The SecondMarket private company program provides companies with interim liquidity options to manage and control the secondary market of their own shares. The program recently expanded to include a primary capital introduction component as a result of SecondMarket’s acquisition of InsideVenture in October.

In addition to private company stock, SecondMarket has established itself as the leading secondary market for numerous other assets, including limited partnership interests, auction-rate securities, bankruptcy claims, residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations, warrants/restricted stock in public companies and whole loans. In total, over $25 billion in illiquid assets are available for sale on SecondMarket.

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