WebObits.com, Online Obituary Site, Announces Investors

Posted on July 7, 2000

WebObits.com, an online obituary service, has announced its receipt of first-round funding, primarily from E2Enet, Inc., an Internet incubator operated by U.S. Technologies Inc. WebObits.com also received funding from private angel investors.

``Our investors have given us the opportunity to demonstrate that there is a lucrative market for publishing information on the Web that traditionally has generated substantial revenues for newspapers,'' said Michael Putzel, the president and chief executive officer of WebMilestones.com, LLC, the parent company of WebObits.com.

Noting that in today's mobile society, people rarely die in the place they grew up, Putzel said, ``The Internet is the best place to publish obituaries, where family and friends anywhere can see them. We are using the latest Internet technology to build a national database that is easy to use and free to search. Relationships are not limited by geography, and we want our site to be a source of information for anyone with Internet access.''

WebObits.com was founded by Putzel, an award-winning journalist for the Associated Press and the Boston Globe. Prior to founding WebObits.com, Putzel served as the AP's chief white house correspondent and chief of the AP Bureau in Moscow.

WebObits.com reports the most newsworthy deaths of the day and publishes paid death notices placed by families of the deceased. WebMilestones.com, LLC is a Washington, DC-based company founded in 1999 by Putzel and several seed investors. WebObits.com is its first site.