Ventro Builds On Strong Performance in Automotive Sector

    MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Oct. 17, 2001--Ventro(TM) Corporation , a pioneer in business-to-business e-commerce, today announced that demand for its collaborative commerce solution is on the rise, as it closes significant deals with new automotive customers. Since the beginning of the year, Ventro has added suppliers including Drive-Tek, Budd Plastics and Trelleborg to its roster of automotive industry customers. As more auto manufacturers and suppliers bring their key business processes online, solutions such as Ventro's collaborative commerce offering will continue to play a vital role as an essential component of these companies' e-business strategy.
    The Ventro collaborative commerce solution (formerly NexPrise ipTeam), which is also used in divisions of Ford and General Motors, has demonstrated its leading-edge capabilities in streamlining the quote management process of direct materials, and improving the overall efficiencies of vehicle program management. Today, Ventro customers are experiencing significant savings and productivity gains by leveraging the Ventro solution.
    Drive Tek is currently using the Ventro solution to provide key collaborative technology for global driveline systems development. Ventro has enabled Drive Tek to assume complete program management responsibility for optimum driveline systems development and supply chain integration for passenger cars, light trucks, and sport utility vehicles. Within weeks of implementing the Ventro solution, Budd Plastics, a leading provider of fiberglass-reinforced composite compounds and molded products, was able to enhance their program management capabilities making it easier for Budd to communicate throughout multiple tiers of the supply chain. The solution provided Budd Plastics instant updates to all program documents, helped manage issues to faster resolution, and reduced the need for meetings and travel time. Trelleborg Automotive, a recognized supplier of anti-vibration products, has streamlined its RFQ process by using Ventro's quote management solution, with the ability to view real-time bid status, and respond more quickly to incoming bids.

    Ventro Serves as E-Business Resource to the Automotive Industry

    Ventro also leads in e-business best practices in the areas of quote (RFQ) management and vehicle program management, and has teamed up with auto industry influencers to host an upcoming automotive seminar, to be held on October 23, 2001, in Dearborn, Mich. The Ventro-sponsored educational seminar, entitled "e-Sourcing -- the New Automotive Industry Imperative," will feature presentations by AMR analysts, Pierre Mitchell and Kevin Prouty, and global administrator for Trelleborg Automotive, Janet Lubeck.
    Aimed at sales and account management, e-business and procurement management leaders from tier one and tier two supplier organizations, the seminar will educate automotive executives about how to capitalize on the next wave of business-enabling technologies. Supplier quoting requirements have changed dramatically over recent years. The OEM sourcing techniques are designed to drive down price, requiring suppliers to quickly estimate their cost reduction capabilities. Strategic sourcing of direct materials that will allow manufacturers to securely collaborate with their supply chain online in order to streamline their entire sourcing process has been identified by many industry-watchers as the next e-business frontier.
    "The OEMs have put automotive suppliers under enormous pressure to cut costs, so they must develop a comprehensive quote management system or risk losing business, or worse still, winning business at a significant loss," said Manash Chakraborty, senior director of industry marketing for Ventro. "Suppliers that adapt to these new changes will have a competitive advantage and will be better equipped to meet OEM requirements and manage their risks."

    About Ventro

    Ventro Corporation is a pioneer in business-to-business e-commerce. Ventro provides collaborative commerce solutions that enable companies to manage key processes with their suppliers, partners and customers, including complex procurement, collaborative product development and program management. Ventro Corporation is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. For more information, please visit www.ventro.com.

    Safe Harbor Statement

    "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release, other than statements of historical information, are forward-looking statements and involve known and unknown risks and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to differ materially from those expressed herein. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: the recent substantial change in our business model; our ability to integrate the operations and personnel of NexPrise; our ability to develop a viable technology and service offering; our ability to retain current customers and secure new customers in a number of industries; our need to reduce operating expenses; our history of significant operating losses and negative cash flow; the risk that our common stock could be delisted from the Nasdaq National Market; the risks associated with litigation pending against us brought by shareholders and bondholders, as well as other factors discussed in detail in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.