Kaydara Receives $5 Million in Venture Capital

Montreal, --(January 8, 2001)-- Kaydara Inc, a worldwide leader in real-time 3D/2D production systems for film, television, games and broadcasting, announced that it has received a $5 million investment to support future product development and its marketing strategy. Investissement Desjardins, a company known for its interest in burgeoning technology companies, led this first round of institutional investment. Already a profitable company, Kaydara will use the investment to pursue the expanding prosumer and consumer marketplaces for 3D.

"We are very excited about Kaydara's vision and achievements, and we are confident our investment will allow them to realize their goals, which will undoubtedly change the way we communicate and entertain ourselves on the Internet," said Bernard Paradis, Senior Vice President, Investissement Desjardins. "Their strategy, combined with their outstanding track record with high profile clients worldwide, has earned our confidence."

A world leader in the professional animation market Kaydara's flagship software product, FiLMBOX, offers content developers the tools they need to quickly and easily create 3D content in real-time. FiLMBOX provides artists with professional-quality tools at an affordable price and can reduce content development time by over 200%. FiLMBOX also acts as a hub for 3D content creation, importing and exporting data from almost any 3D program.

Kaydara is already a leader in the professional animation world and will remain active in the high-end market as it pursues the development of its prosumer and consumer products. Kaydara currently holds approximately 80% of the worldwide motion capture market, which involves translating real-world action into computer code for the purpose of animating a computer-generated character.

Kaydara's current clients include top animation studios and broadcasters, such as Disney, Industrial Light and Magic, Nickelodeon, the Cartoon Network, Astral Media, TVA, Motion International, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and The Sports Network (TSN). Clients have used Kaydara's technology in projects such as the blockbuster film, The Matrix; the video games, Ready to Rumble 2 and NFL Blitz; the animated series Starship Troopers and Action Man; TSN's coverage of the 2000 Summer Olympics; TVA's daily animated cartoon le JourNul; as well as the Cartoon Network's interactive viewer-request show, JBVO.

Growth strategy

"Our mission is to build the software needed for the widespread adoption of real-time 3D content in a seamless mixed-media environment," said Michel Besner, President of Kaydara Inc. "This $5 million investment will allow us to develop the products and secure the key partnerships needed to make this mission a reality."

Kaydara's goal is to become the de facto standard for character-based content creation and delivery across the entire range of digital media. To achieve this, the company intends to use the proceeds of the investment to complete the development of its prosumer and consumer products, secure various OEM and distribution agreements, expand marketing support for both its high-end and prosumer products, and expand customer service, training and administration to support growth.

About Investissement Desjardins

Created in 1974, Investissement Desjardins is the venture capital arm of The Mouvement Desjardins, investing in growth companies and regional investment funds. Its mission is to add value to associated companies and help them achieve a significant position in their sector of activity, on both Canadian and International markets. Investissement Desjardins and its regional funds are partners with 95 growing Quebec companies with more than half working in the new economy sectors.

About Kaydara Inc.

Founded in 1993, Kaydara Inc. (www.kaydara.com) is a leading provider of solutions for the authoring and delivery of rich digital media 3D content, including Web, film, broadcast and broadband, as well as game development applications. Its award-winning FiLMBOX and Broadcast Systems products enable content developers to acquire, manage and deliver secure 3D content in real time. Kaydara is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, and has over 300 customers in over 30 countries worldwide.