Contact: Lee E. Bouyea
802-388-6283 x 25

(Middlebury, VT) - FreshTracks Capital, L.P. (“FreshTracks”), a Middlebury-based venture capital fund focused on investing in Vermont growth companies, announced its investment in mophie™ of Burlington, VT. FreshTracks joined majority investor, Village Ventures, a Williamstown, MA based venture capital firm. Together, the syndicate invested one million dollars in the company, with an additional amount to be invested in the near future. mophie™ is a developer of innovative, value-added solutions for the digital lifestyle accessory market, currently focusing on iPod accessories. mophie™ was founded by Ben Kaufman, a 19-year old entrepreneur while he attended high school on Long Island, NY.
Bo Peabody, who led the transaction for Village Ventures, founded Tripod Inc., one of the original developers of web-based personal publishing and communities in 1992 while he attended Williams College, then sold Tripod to Lycos in 1998. Peabody commented, “Ben’s maturity, understanding of his market, and vision for his product are exemplary. The power of the iPod economy continues to dominate digital media, and Ben has done a great job tapping into that community in conceptualizing and crafting mophie’s innovative RELO product line.”
Kaufman has been managing businesses since he was 14, when he founded his first company, a web development firm called BKMEDIA. Kaufman relocated mophie™ to Burlington, VT when he enrolled at Champlain College and decided to lay down roots in the Champlain Valley of Vermont. Kaufman is one of the charter members of Champlain College’s BYOBiz Program, which encourages student entrepreneurs to bring their businesses with them to college. “I am here today because of the incredibly tight-knit Vermont business community which has helped this 19-year-old prove that no matter how old, or young, you are, if you work hard enough and never give up hope for your dream... it can certainly come true,” said Kaufman.
Lee Bouyea, an Associate with FreshTracks Capital added, ”We’ve been working with Ben for close to a year now, advising mophie and networking with Ben to locate the resources necessary to help the company become equity ready.” Bouyea will join the board of directors when the transaction is completed.
Schmidt brings to the company his former experiences as VP of Sales at Burton Inc., the international snowboard company, and as GM of Himaya, a sports sunscreen company, both based in Burlington, VT. Kaufman continued,"With backing from FreshTracks and Village Ventures, along with the amount of knowledge and experience they bring to the table, we are primed to make a huge impact on this market.”

mophie™ is the 13th investment in FreshTracks’ first fund. FreshTracks provides a broad spectrum of equity financing to growth companies. Its investments include seed and early stage financing provided to re-launch EatingWell, a food and nutrition media company located in Charlotte, VT; financing for the going-private transaction of Vermont Teddy Bear; and expansion financing provided to ClearSource, a water bottling company with a flagship plant and springs in Randolph, VT.



####