Skokie, IL -- January 22, 2001 - SurePayroll, a provider of web-based payroll processing, announced it secured $8 million in Series B venture financing. Chicago-based Kettle Partners led the investment. Other participants in this round include BlueStar Ventures and Mesirow Financial.

SurePayroll, founded in 1999, provides a simple, convenient, reliable and economical way for small businesses to process and distribute payroll and taxes in minutes via the Internet. It allows small businesses and their employees to initiate and access their payroll from anywhere, at any time.

Founder, Scott Wald, has focused the company on serving small businesses. Wald, former Founder and CEO of ASAP Software Express and past Inc. Magazine "Entrepreneur of the Year" said, "Eleven million small businesses in the U.S., not to mention their employees, have been waiting for a service like this," Wald described the difference between SurePayroll and other outsourced payroll options. "We are not taking the current payroll method and slapping an Internet face on it like other payroll companies. We built our internet-enabled service from the ground up to be simple, convenient, reliable and economical." SurePayroll service offers improved accuracy at roughly 50% of the price of traditional payroll services."

SurePayroll has been very well received in the small business marketplace, experiencing greater than 100% growth each quarter since its commercial release. "One reason for our success is that we are not an Internet company, but a service company that leverages the Internet to deliver payroll faster, simpler and at a fraction of the cost," added Wald.

The money will be used to expand SurePayroll's sales, marketing and product development efforts in both its retail and private-label offerings.

About SurePayroll:
SurePayroll was founded in December of 1999. SurePayroll provides a simple, convenient, reliable and economical way for small businesses to process and distribute payroll and taxes in minutes via the Internet. It allows small businesses and their employees to initiate and access their payroll from anywhere, at any time. With SurePayroll, payroll is completed in a fraction of the time, at a fraction of the cost. The Company's Internet-based payroll service automates the entire payroll process, completely eliminating the traditional processing steps that conventional payroll services providers use. For more information, click here.

About Kettle Partners Limited Partnership II:
Kettle Partners Limited Partnership II (http://www.kettlevc.com) based in Chicago, Illinois, is a venture capital firm that focuses on emerging stage companies that enable Telecommunications, New Media and the Internet. Kettle's portfolio includes MetaSolv Software, Inc., Coppercom, Diveo, Ignite Sports Media, Active.com, Full Audio, and E-Greetings Network, Inc.

About BlueStar Ventures, L.P.
BlueStar Ventures, L.P. (http://www.bluestarventures.com) is a Chicago-based private equity investment fund focusing its capital, time and other resources on early stage investments in technology, Internet and telecommunications companies. BlueStar's portfolio includes Clerity Knowledge Exchanges, Curious Networks and NII Communications.

About Mesirow Capital Partners VII, L.P.
Mesirow Capital Partners VII, L.P. (http://www.mesirowfinancial.com) serves the financial needs of individuals, businesses, investing institutions, public sector entities and broker dealers since 1937. Mesirow's Private Equity Division provides equity financing to successful management teams in growth financings and management buy-outs. Mesirow's portfolio includes Fender Musical Instruments, Paragon Solutions, CourtLink, and Swingles Furniture Rental.

For More Information About SurePayroll:

Michael Alter
SurePayroll
847-676-8420, ext 7229
michael.alter@surepayroll.com

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