New Century Hospice Closes $20M Series A Financing Led by Scale Venture Partners and Petra Capital Partners

DALLAS, TX–(Marketwire – October 13, 2010) – New Century Hospice, a provider of hospice care to patients in nine centers located in Texas, today announced that it has closed $20M in Series A financing, led by Scale Venture Partners and Petra Capital Partners. New Century Hospice will use this new financing to continue its expansion of standalone hospice care centers located in Texas and neighboring Southern states. With the completion of this financing, Mark Brooks and Lou Bock, both Managing Directors with ScaleVP, and David Fitzgerald, General Partner with Petra Capital, join the Board.

New Century Hospice owns nine hospice companies in Texas under the operating names of Century Hospice, Cosmos Hospice, Heritage Care Hospice, Paragon Hospice and Angel Heart Hospice.

“I started this company with the belief that providing patients with high-quality, end-of-life care is both good for patients and their families and is cost-effective as well,” said David Gasmire, founder and CEO of Century Hospice. “Lou, Mark and David are experienced investors in companies that deliver medical care in a clinical situation. They understand how to scale this type of business successfully, while keeping care for patients the top priority. I look forward to working with them as we expand the company.”

Patients served by hospice typically have a life expectancy of six months or less, and the treatment is focused on palliation or comfort care for the patient and the family. The hospice approach to care is called “interdisciplinary,” because it involves the participation of many healthcare professionals, who are focused on addressing medical, spiritual, psycho-social and personal needs of patients and their families. The goal of this approach is quality of life for both patients and their families. The Medicare Hospice Benefit, enacted in 1983, also provides for medications, equipment and supplies related to the patient’s diagnosis.

“ScaleVP has a history of successful investments in healthcare service companies like New Century Hospice, where demographic trends and superior outcomes at lower costs drive growth,” said Mark Brooks, Managing Director with ScaleVP. “It is an honor to be working with David and the team at Century Hospice to expand their care centers.”

David Fitzgerald, General Partner with Petra Capital commented, “Hospice care will play an increasingly important role as more physicians begin to view hospice as the most appropriate option for patients with a terminal diagnosis. In our view, hospice care allows patients and their families to address the emotional and physical challenges of end of life care with the support of an interdisciplinary team in the most appropriate care setting. We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with such an outstanding management team, led by David Gasmire, and look forward to helping New Century Hospice achieve its growth plans.”

About Scale Venture Partners
Based in Foster City, California, the ScaleVP team is a long-standing partnership with a consistent, top quartile track record of returns for the past decade. ScaleVP’s market-tested investment strategy, extensive operating networks and go-to-market expertise help identify and build successful portfolio companies in technology and healthcare markets. The ScaleVP team’s collaborative and active approach provides entrepreneurs a competitive advantage for growth and category leadership. Representative portfolio companies include AlimeraSciences, EverydayHealth, ExactTarget, Frontbridge, IPC TheHospitalist Company, mBlox, Monolithic Power Systems, National Healing, NComputing, Omniture, Orexigen, ScanSafe, and Zogenix. For more information, visit www.scalevp.com.

About Petra Capital Partners
Petra Capital Partners, LLC is a private equity firm based in Nashville, Tennessee. The firm is actively investing its second SBIC fund, Petra Growth Fund II, which has $160 million of available capital to invest. Its previous funds under management total $130 million. Petra provides non-control subordinated debt and/or preferred stock to high growth companies for expansion, acquisition, buyout, refinancing or recapitalization in partnership with the founding management team. Petra seeks to invest up to $15 million in growth companies that possess a minimum of $10 million in revenue and positive EBITDA at the time of investment. The fund targets business, healthcare and information technology services companies. For more information, please visit Petra’s website at www.petracapital.com or call (615) 313-5999.

About New Century Hospice
Based in Dallas, Texas, New Century Hospice is a leading provider of hospice services to patients, families and healthcare providers. The Management Team of Century Hospice has, combined, over 50 years of hospice experience. At New Century Hospice, we believe that quality care provides quality time for our patients and their families. For more information, please contact: www.centuryhospice.com.