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The Aurora Funds, Inc. Announces the First Closing of its Fourth Venture Fund, Aurora Ventures IV, LLC

March 22, 2002 --- The Aurora Funds, Inc. (Aurora) is pleased to announce the first closing of its fourth venture fund, Aurora Ventures IV, LLC (Aurora IV). The first closing of $35 million was held in March 2002. The firm will continue to raise capital with a final close targeted for year-end 2002. The fund size is targeted for a total of $75 million.

Aurora IV will invest in early stage life science and information technology companies, primarily in the Southeastern United States. This will continue the successful investment strategy of the firm’s three previous venture funds. Aurora IV will invest primarily in seed and first-round financings of companies, frequently taking a lead position in the financing syndicate. With its new larger fund, Aurora IV will be able to continue to support its companies through later rounds of investment. Geographically, the firm will concentrate its investments primarily in the region bounded by the Washington, D.C- Baltimore corridor south through Florida.

Industry-wise, the firm will continue its life science concentration in biotechnology, medical devices and healthcare services. On the information technology side, Aurora IV will target network and Internet infrastructure software, semiconductors, datacommunications, photonics and nanotechnology. In addition, the firm will pursue situations where there is a merger of life science and information technology capabilities.

Jeff Clark, Managing General Partner of The Aurora Funds, comments that the new fund will “…allow Aurora the ability to continue to identify exciting new early stage life science companies, similar to deals in our previous portfolios, like Merix, Norak and Trivirix. We were able to identify the technology and the business opportunity and then help put companies together to build substantial value.”

The lead investor in Aurora IV is Duke Management Company (DUMAC), based in Durham, NC. Other institutional investors include Wachovia, SHV, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Alexandria Real Estate and Silicon Valley Bank. Scott Albert, Managing General Partner of The Aurora Funds, says, “We would like to thank our investors for supporting us. The current fund raising market is challenging and we are pleased to be moving forward with the fund at this time. We are seeing many promising investment opportunities and are looking forward to beginning the investment process.”

Please contact Jeff Clark or Scott Albert with any questions or comments. mailto:afinfo@aurorafunds.com

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