Neutral Tandem (Nasdaq: TNDM) Chicago, IL “DCM was quick to recognize the timely nature of the Neutral Tandem opportunity. They moved aggressively to lead the round, set up interim financing and introduce the company to a number of other top venture firms as co-leads. As a result, at closing, the company was within six weeks of producing a revenue stream.” - Jim Hynes, President & CEO, Neutral Tandem

Neutral Tandem (Nasdaq: TNDM) is the premier independent tandem company providing wireless, wireline and broadband companies with a neutral infrastructure for exchanging voice traffic, eliminating the need to rely on the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) to complete calls. Neutral Tandem improves network performance and reliability, allowing competitive carriers to better meet customer expectations and more efficiently grow their business. In fact, its network is helping competitive carriers exchange billions of minutes of traffic per month to more than 230 million telephone numbers across the country.

DCM’s investment in Neutral Tandem is another example of DCM’s network. The deal was originally sourced by Dixon Doll, who was introduced to the company by his long-time colleague and friend Jim Hynes (former co-founder of COLT and currently Chairman of Neutral Tandem). Dixon took a board seat in connection with the Series A financing and helped recruit NEA as a co-investor. DCM Venture Partner Bob Hawk has served on the TNDM board of directors since January 2004 and recruited his long time colleague, Rian Wren, as CEO in February 2006. In addition, DCM Limited Partner Mesirow Financial contributed to the company’s success by leading the Series C financing. Tom Blaisdell, DCM’s second partner on the deal, assisted the company in preparing for the Sarbanes Oxley compliance process, a process he had previously gone through with other portfolio companies.

On November 2, 2007, DCM III portfolio company Neutral Tandem began initial trading on the Nasdaq (Ticker: TNDM). The company’s initial public offering raised approximately $87.5 million, opening with a market capitalization of approximately $532 million. For 2007, Neutral Tandem was one of the top performing IPOs in the after market.