Wine 2.0 Announces Launch OF 2008 Wine 2.0 Business Plan Competition with Vator.tv
2007 Winner Crushpad Received $9 Million Investment, Credited Wine 2.0 Business Plan Competition With Providing Added Exposure To Investment Community. This Year's Competition Expects To Partner With Investment Group To Sponsor 2008 Competition With $250K Seed Round Funding To Winning Company.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, October 03, 2008 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Wine 2.0, the innovator in social networking and events in the wine industry, announces the 2nd Annual Wine 2.0 Business Plan Competition with partner Vator.tv. Last year's winner, Crushpad, a personal winery concept received $9 million in a Series B investment and credited the Wine 2.0 Business Plan Competition with providing added exposure to the investment community.

"The 2007 Wine 2.0 Business Plan Competition gave Crushpad a big boost of awareness within the investment community. It opened up a lot of doors for us, and ultimately we ended up with multiple investment options and were able to do the type of investment round that best suited our needs," said Michael Brill, CEO, Crushpad.

This year's competition is open to companies utilizing technology in the wine space and interested in raising investment capital. Presenting companies can upload a video pitch to the Vator.tv community and competition judging panel. This year's judging panel is made up of leaders in the legal, wine, technology and investment communities and includes:

• Alan Citron, Executive, Buzznet and former GM at TMZ.com,
• Bowen Osbourn, M & A, Demand Media
• Richard Rosenblatt, CEO, Demand Media, former CEO of Myspace.com.
• Gary Vaynerchuk, star of Wine Library TV,
• Steve Venuto, Partner, Orrick,
• Heidi Roizen, Founder Skinny Songs and former partner at Mobius Venture Capital,
• J. Smoke Wallin, Chairman, Wine 2.0, CEO Taliera Holdings, Chairman/Founder eSkye, Co-Chairman Wine Industry Technology Symposium, President of the Vanderbilt Business School Alumni Board and Former Chairman of WSWA

"Given the global economic challenges we face, never has it been more important than now, for creative individuals to take entrepreneurial risks. The Wine 2.0 Business Plan Competition is a fantastic opportunity for start-ups involved in the wine industry to vet their plan, network with like-minded entrepreneurs and raise their profile with the right investors," said J. Smoke Wallin, Chairman of Wine 2.0. "We are pleased to partner with Vator.TV and these excellent judges to create a world class competition," continued Wallin.

"Vator.tv has new business ventures joining our network every day. The wine space is experiencing as much activity and interest among start-ups and investors as anything we have seen. We are excited to partner with Wine 2.0 for the second competition after such a great turnout last year," said Bambi Francisco, Co-Founder and CEO of Vator.tv.

The 2008 Wine 2.0 Business Plan Competition will run through April when the winning company will be announced at Wine 2.0 San Francisco, it can be found at (www.vator.tv)

Press Release Contact Information:

J Smoke Wallin
Wine 2.0 LLC
Chairman
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Carmel, IN
USA 46032
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