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Management

Bob Christopher, CEO, Board Chairman, Co-Founder

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Caleb Chung, Inventor, Board Member, Co-Founder

Caleb's accomplishments and experience span the entertainment, mixed media and toy industries. He has written, produced, and acted in critically acclaimed stage shows, has designed special effects for film/TV, and invented numerous successful toys. He co-invented the 1998 hot toy of the year, Furby, which sold over 50 million units worldwide, generating over $1.2 billion in sales. As an inventor with over 20 patents, Caleb is regarded as one of the premier product designers in the toy industry.

Caleb is inventor and co-founder of UGOBE Life Forms. His full Bio can be found in the Management Team section.

John Sosoka, CTO

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Steve Bannerman, VP Marketing

May 29, 2008 09:00 ETUGOBE Appoints Steve Bannerman as Vice President Of Global Marketing
Seasoned Marketing Executive Will Spearhead UGOBE's Worldwide Brand and Marketing Strategy

EMERYVILLE, CA--(Marketwire - May 29, 2008) - UGOBE, developer of revolutionary robotic technology "Life Forms," announced today that Steve Bannerman has joined the company as its new vice president of global marketing. With more than 20 years of experience with technology and consumer companies such as Apple, CastStream and Tarantella, Bannerman will drive UGOBE's brand and global marketing strategy.

Prior to joining UGOBE, Bannerman served as vice president of marketing and product management at Narus Inc., a leading telecom infrastructure software company, and chief marketing officer and general manager at Tarantella, Inc. where he architected a global product, brand and marketing strategy that resulted in an acquisition by Sun Microsystems.

"UGOBE is a pioneer in creating the world's most compelling Life Forms for companionship, entertainment and learning," said Bob Christopher, co-founder and chief executive officer of UGOBE. "Steve's marketing expertise and demonstrated success in launching consumer and technology products are tremendous assets as we continue to broaden our footprint and bring Pleo into the mainstream."

Bannerman also brings years of marketing and product management experience with brands like Apple and CastStream. As the director of marketing for QuickTime TV, Bannerman conceptualized, designed and launched Apple's online media streaming business; as the founder and CEO of CastStream, he delivered rich media e-learning applications to universities and businesses around the world.

"This is an outstanding time to join UGOBE. Pleo, our first Life Form, provides a wonderful canvas upon which to deliver the world's most compelling Life Form relationships," said Bannerman. "I'm excited to be part of such an innovative company that is setting the pace in personal robotics and artificial intelligence, but Pleo is just the tip of the iceberg. I look forward to introducing the world to the delightful experiences that are possible with UGOBE Life Forms."

About UGOBE

UGOBE is a privately-held company based in Emeryville, California that develops revolutionary robotics to transform inanimate objects into lifelike creatures. UGOBE's multidisciplinary team has developed a unique set of core technologies that underlie its groundbreaking line of robotic Life Forms. For more information about UGOBE, visit www.ugobe.com.

Diane Stern, Director of Strategic Operations

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Martin Hitch, VP Sales

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Liz Gasper, CFO

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Danny Tom, CFO

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Daniel Lau, VP Product Engineering

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Greg Appelhof, VP Sales

Greg Appelhof is currently President and founder of Technology Resource Group, a sales and marketing consultancy serving emerging consumer electronics brands. Previously, he was the CEO of Netdirect, an internet retailer of computer and consumer products. At Netdirect, Mr. Appelhof led the company to achieve $150 million revenues.

Prior to Netdirect, Mr. Appelhof spent ten years with Herold Marketing Associates, the owner of Graphics Technology Inc. an $80 million regional distributor, and successfully represented Apple, Compaq and Sony products to Best Buy, Target and other top-tier distribution channels.

Board of Directors

Steven Mayer

Steven Mayer has more than 30 years experience in the computer, television, and electronic entertainment industries. Contributions have been at the individual technical contributor level, as a senior technical and general manager, and on management and oversight boards. He has lectured extensively in the design of user interfaces and the appropriate use of technology.

Mayer was the founder, Chief Technology Officer and Chairman of Digital F/X. He was one of the founders of Atari, the video games and computer company. For the past several years Mayer has also been an advisor to Intel, Nintendo, and other companies regarding business and technical issues. He serves on the board and audits the committee of Activision, a publicly traded company, and several other privately held companies.

Max Fang

Mr. Max Fang is co-founder of Maxima Capital Management, Inc., a venture capital fund management firm. He has been the Chairman & CEO of Maxima since 2002.

Prior to Maxima, Mr. Fang served Dell Inc. for 11 years from 1990 to 2001, and was the founder of Dell's supply chain management organization in Asia Pacific. Prior to Dell, Mr. Fang had worked for large global companies such as GTE, RCA, Atari, and Wyse for 13 years accumulating substantial experience in the field of supply chain management and global logistics.

Mr. Fang holds a BS degree in Management Science from National Chiao Tung University and an EMBA from Cheng Chi University.

Caleb Chung

View bio above.

Curtis Sasaki

Curtis Sasaki is vice president responsible for Sun’s global web sites. His team is responsible for the strategy, business development, content, and ecommerce. Prior to this role, Sasaki was vice president of engineering for Desktop Software managing the development of Sun’s core desktop software, including the Java Desktop System and StarOffice/OpenOffice. He also held roles in Corporate Development, and started the Java in Consumer devices initiative. Prior to Sun, he worked at Apple, NeXT, and General Magic.

Fred Forsyth

Fred was COO for LeapFrog enterprises, an educational toy company. Prior to LeapFrog, he was; CEO of NewRoads, Inc., President of the Americas for Solectron, and President of the Professional Products Division of Iomega. Fred spent 7 years at Apple Computer where he was first Corporate Sr. VP Worldwide Operations and then General Manager, Macintosh Products Group. He also spent nearly a decade each at Digital Equipment Corporation and General Electric Corporation. Fred has served on the boards of NewRoads, Inc., Genus Corporation, and PowerMarket.

Fred has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire and a MBA from Babson College. He also attended the Advanced Management Programme at Insead (Fontainebleau, France) and is a graduate of General Electric’s Manufacturing Management Program and its Tool & Die Apprenticeship Program.

Bill Power

Bill Powar is an active investor in early stage companies of all sorts. Bill spent over 22 years helping to build Visa into the world's largest branded payment system. At Visa, Bill started-up new businesses (such as travelers cheques and point-of-sale payment processing), opened up new markets (including government, fast food and recurring payments), and negotiated mergers and acquisitions (such as the Plus ATM network and Interlink).

In his last job, which involved the formation of Visa's internal venture capital unit, he co-led the formation of Verisign. Since leaving Visa in 1996, Bill has been active as an investor in, director of and adviser to a wide variety of emerging technology companies.

Phil Schlein

Phil Schlein joined US Venture Partners (USVP) in 1985 after a successful 28-year career as an operating executive in the retailing industry. He was President and CEO of Macy's California from 1977 to 1984 and served on the Board of Directors of Apple Computer for eight years from 1979 to 1987.

Since joining USVP, Schlein has originated a number of investments in the consumer/retail sector including PETsMart, Fresh Choice and The House of Blues. Schlein has served on the boards of directors of iVillage, HomeGrocer.com, NBCi, among others. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Catalist, Specialtys, Auction Drop, Oakville Grocery and Visanow.com.

Chauncey Shey

Chauncey Shey is the president and CEO of Softbank China Holding (SBCH), an affiliated company of Softbank group in Japan. He also serves as CEO of Softbank China Venture Capital (SBCVC).

Shey is also a co-founder and director of UTStarcom, Inc (NASDA: UTSI), and served as UTStarcom's Executive Vice President from 1995 until July 1999. From 1991 to 1995 Shey was Executive Vice President of StarCom Network Systems, Inc., a telecom equipment provider which later merged with Unitech Telecom, Inc. to form UTStarcom; and Executive Vice President of StarCom Products, Inc., a consulting business that developed software products and provided expertise in the fields of computers and telecommunications. Prior to that, Shey was a consultant to AT&T Bell Labs (now part of Lucent Technologies). From 1986 to 1990, Shey was with DGM&S, a telecom software. Shey has received numerous recognitions for his work in the VC investment arena including "Top 30 Active Venture Capitalist in China."