Expresso Fitness Announces New VP of Operations

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 12 — Expresso Fitness, the leading supplier of interactive cardio fitness systems, today announced the appointment of Paul Negus to Vice President of Operations. Paul joins Expresso with over two decades of operations experience for start-ups and multinational corporations in the US, UK and Asia.

In this newly created position, Paul will be responsible for overseeing domestic and international operations, with tasks including increasing manufacturing volume, reducing cycle times, reducing costs and continuing to improve quality. “Paul will help Expresso to address our rapid production growth requirements,” says Brian Button, CEO of Expresso Fitness. “We were looking for someone with rich experience in production outsourcing to Asia — Paul brings that. He also brings strong general management skills which Expresso needs for the next phase of our business.”

Prior to Expresso, Paul served as VP of Worldwide Operations for Avanex Corporation, where he developed and implemented a post-merger outsourcing strategy, saving the Company $15 million. As GM/VP of Operations at IOA Corporation, Paul orchestrated the Company’s acquisition to minimize investor loss, returning $7 million to investors. Earlier in his career he held a variety of Engineering and Operations roles at Sun Microsystems. While at the company, he joined a group of senior executives to launch a new contract manufacturing firm in Asia, growing revenue to over $100 million in less than one year.

Paul is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, UK, and served as a Captain in the Corps of Engineers.

“The team at Expresso has done a great job of penetrating a very traditional, hardware-focused market with the latest technologies,” said Negus. “The new S2 is an exciting and innovative system. I am looking forward to working with this team to reach operational excellence and high levels of customer satisfaction.”

About Expresso Fitness

Sunnyvale, CA-based Expresso Fitness was founded in 2003 with the mission of satisfying an exerciser’s need for an engaging and effective cardiovascular fitness experience. The company leverages the benefits of superior interactive technology at an affordable cost to provide the health, sports and fitness industry with fully integrated, virtual reality-enhanced cardio fitness systems and revenue-generating customer services. Bringing together virtual reality, stationary bike equipment and personalization tools into single, commercial-grade cycling systems, Expresso’s first line of products are revolutionizing indoor exercise. www.expressofitness.com

About Sierra Ventures

Sierra Ventures, founded in 1982, is a privately held venture capital firm focused on investments across all areas of the Information Technology sector from semiconductors to enterprise software. Sierra Ventures has managed nine venture capital partnerships and currently has more than $1.5 billion of capital under management. Some of the firm’s investments include 360Commerce (acquired by Oracle), Active Software (acquired by WebMethods), AmeriGroup (AGP), Centex (acquired by WorldCom), ConvergeNet (acquired by Dell), FatBrain (acquired by Barnes & Noble), Frontbridge (acquired by Microsoft), Healtheon (merged with WebMD), Interact Commerce (acquired by Sage), Intuit (INTU), Micromuse (acquired by IBM), OnAssignment (ASGN), OnLink (acquired by Siebel), Quinta (acquired by Seagate), StrataCom (acquired by Cisco), Sychip (acquired by Murata Manufacturing) and Teradata (acquired by NCR). www.sierraventures.com

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Enterprise Partners Venture Capital was founded in 1985 and is the largest venture firm headquartered in Southern California with more than $1.1 billion in capital under management. The firm focuses on investments in wireless technologies, digital media, software, semiconductors and the life sciences. www.epvc.com