Biztravel Site Gets Backing

<H1> Biztravel Site Gets Backing</H1>By Cheryl Rosen

New York </I>- Technology startup Middlegate Inc. last month took several steps closer to its goal of providing a one-stop-shopping Internet site for the "unmanaged frequent traveler," acquiring two online travel companies-and securing a whopping $10 million in equity financing from a consortium headed by Wall Street's Goldman, Sachs & Co.

As a result, Middlegate has changed its name to Biztravel.com, the easy-to-remember Web address of one of its new acquisitions, an online magazine and information resource for business travelers. The company also has acquired Status.com, an Internet-based service that tracks enrollees' points and miles in popular frequent flyer and frequent guest programs (http://www.status.com).

"Our investors understand that we are carving a valuable niche by focusing the company's energies on serving frequent business travelers," said John Williams Jr., president and CEO of the new Biztravel.com.

While at present the site is only informational, Williams said the goal is to add a booking engine by the end of this year-allowing travelers to make reservations, monitor their frequent traveler programs and obtain destination information on a single site. The company's target market is autonomous business travelers, primarily in small to midsize companies and home offices, rather than companies with corporate travel managers and formal travel policies, Williams added.

The corporation's new investors join a list of original backers that included such techno-savvy firms as Informix Corp., Intel Corp., Accel Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners.