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November 8, 1999

FutureWeb:
Kinzan.com: Think Globally, Surf Locally

At A Glance:

Kinzan.com
City: Carlsbad, Calif.
Top executive/founders: Robert Frankenberg, chairman; Gari Cheever, president and CEO; Garland Wong, CTO
Year founded: 1999
Employees: About 50
Amount of venture funding to date: Approximately $15.5 million
Business: Tools to build and localize Web content
ike many technology companies that sell Internet software, Kinzan.com's tools help its customers establish Web businesses. But Kinzan.com has added a unique twist: Its products and services let companies inject local flavor into their Web presence--while still centrally controlling the site content and brand. "We believe that brand, just like existing physical-world brand, is going to become critical in the virtual world," says Gari Cheever, president, CEO, and co-founder of Kinzan.com.

Kinzan.com's software includes the requisite E-commerce tools: Siteman, a Web-site creation tool; and Siteman Storefront for building catalogs, fulfilling orders, and processing transactions. Companies can use the tools to design Web-site templates that govern the overall look and feel of sites so they can control use of branding and logos. A local division of the company can then access the centrally branded site, select a template, and walk through four easy steps to build a more personalized or localized Web storefront.

The idea that a company could think globally and act locally without relinquishing brand control first came about when the Holiday Inn hotel chain approached iXL Inc., the Internet services firm from which Kinzan.com was spun out in January. The international hotelier wanted iXL to help it build some 2,000 Web sites that could be controlled centrally so the brand wouldn't be compromised, while at the same time allowing its regional offices to add content that localized the sites. IXL developed software to accomplish the task.

So Kinzan.com was born. The Carlsbad, Calif., company's founders include former Novell CEO Robert Frankenberg, CyberCash pioneer Garland Wong, and Cheever, former executive VP and CFO for Encanto Networks (now headed by Frankenberg). The company is already on solid financial footing. In its first round of financing completed in February, Kinzan.com raised about $5.5 million. Now in its second--and likely final--round, Kinzan.com expects to raise more than $10 million.

Kinzan.com's clients include AutoTrader.com, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, and Knight Ridder. Chase Manhattan Bank Corp. began testing Kinzan.com's software last month in its new ChaseShop.com, an online mall it's running in partnership with ShopNow.com. The service will host 350,000 small and midsize businesses, which will be able to tailor their own content and brands using Kinzan.com's software. Chase will centrally manage the overall site.

The Chase deal puts Kinzan.com exactly where it wants to be--behind the scenes. Kinzan.com will establish partnerships similar to the Chase deal, and then reach thousands more customers through the established brand of the partner. "We built a business model that doesn't rely on our brand or generating traffic on our Web site," says Cheever. "We think we can get to businesses faster if we go through companies that already have relationships with those businesses."

continue on to the next company: Billserv.com