SAN FRANCISCO--09-25-06--Piczo, an online environment for self expression and social networking for teenagers, announces the formal launch of its online service in the U.S. and the hiring of CEO Jeremy Verba, former AOL general manager and vice president of AOL's Voice Services division and co-founder of E!Online. The launch builds on the company's broad viral adoption to date. Beginning with only 100 emails sent to potential users in 2004, Piczo has grown to over 10 million monthly unique users worldwide making it the second largest global teen site as categorized by comScore MediaMetrix, (August 2006)(1).

Piczo, which adds approximately 35,000 new members each day, goes beyond the 'profile page' mold by offering teens a safer place on the Internet where they have the freedom to create fully customizable Web sites -- this promotes a dynamic environment for self expression. Teens choose who can see their site through invite-only networking capabilities, so that both users and parents feel safer. Additionally, multiple privacy and control features allow teens to build and shape their online personas in a more controlled and private fashion.

Piczo's privacy features include a 'walled garden' environment with no user search and disabled friends' lists and comments for sites in public forums. In addition, Piczo teams with parents, law enforcement and government agencies to help further protect its users' safety.

"Teens are aware of the dangers on the Internet, and to them, safety equals control and independence," said Parry Aftab, executive director, WiredSafety, an Internet safety advocacy group. "Today online privacy concerns are top of mind and parents are looking to companies to both enable teens to express themselves and network with other teens online while not risking safety. Piczo offers privacy functionality to address these concerns while enabling greater possibility for self-expression."

Jeremy Verba, a consumer Internet veteran, will bring his deep media expertise to drive the company's corporate direction and overall business strategy. With over a dozen years of experience building online communities and services, Verba will help the company expand its user base and quickly deliver on user demand for innovative new offerings for teens. Before joining Piczo, Verba was general manager and vice president of AOL's Voice Services division, where he and his team created premium services totaling more than one million subscribers. In addition, he was co-founder and president of E!Online, a joint venture of CNET and E!Entertainment Television, now a part of Comcast Corporation.

"Our goal is to provide the most engaging online place for youth to express themselves, interact, and build more meaningful relationships with friends," said Jeremy Verba, CEO, Piczo, Inc. "Piczo already delivers an easy-to-use, safer environment -- not only do our users and their parents like it, but also our advertising and business partners are embracing it. It's obvious that this generation is claiming the internet as their new medium and driving usage in record numbers -- capitalizing on this shift in the media landscape, particularly among the ever-elusive teen audience, is the big opportunity for Piczo."

The company began in 2004 with an initial 100 emails sent to potential users to sign-up for the service -- through word of mouth alone, Piczo grew to over 10 million unique visitors a month with no marketing efforts and little funding.

"We did not set out to become a top global site for self-expression, it was simply that young people seemed to love the blank canvas to post photos, video and share their experiences and opinions with their friends," said Jim Conning, Founder and CTO of Piczo, Inc. "It's now become clear that this generation not only has a deep need to connect online, but an even greater need to express themselves through the web. By continuing to simply listen to what young people want, we believe we have an incredible opportunity to serve the new generation of media consumers."

Piczo has received venture backing led by Sierra Ventures and Catamount Ventures, and has recently assembled a strong team of experienced marketing, product engineering and customer support managers along with a seasoned executive management team to drive continued growth and market expansion. Today, Piczo is also announcing the hiring of a managing director, based in London, to further expand its business in the UK and Europe.

Notes to Editors

About Piczo, Inc.

Piczo empowers teenagers worldwide to creatively express themselves, build personal communities, and share ideas and experiences with their friends in a safer online environment. Piczo's customizable content, colorful graphics, glitter text, video, games, and photo editing tools spotlight member creativity without requiring any technical know-how. Piczo has offices in San Francisco, New York, and London.

Piczo facts

• More than 28 million registered user accounts and over 12 million monthly unique visitors generating over one billion monthly page views
• Created for teenagers worldwide, Piczo users are typically 13 to 16 years old
• A top 40 site in overall world rankings by monthly page views