Hercules Provides $15 Million of Venture Debt to Solarflare Communications, Inc., a Leading Silicon Vendor

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Further extending the company's presence in Southern California, Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTGC) today announced that during the third quarter of 2007, it provided $15 million of venture debt to Solarflare Communications, Inc., leading developer of 10 Gigabit Ethernet technologies.

Hercules, the premier specialty finance company providing venture debt and equity to venture capital and private equity backed technology and life science companies at all stages of development, provided venture debt to Solarflare in order to augment its sales and marketing efforts for 10Xpress(TM), a 10 Gigabit Ethernet transceiver solution. The capital will also enable additional research and development for the company's line of second generation products and solutions.

"The great market potential for Ethernet technologies, especially those of Solarflare's capabilities, is undeniable," said Steve Kuo, principal at Hercules. "This reality, coupled with the presence of an excellent management team at Solarflare, played a large role in Hercules' decision to extend venture debt to the company. This financing initiative underlines Hercules' ongoing commitment to support companies developing industry changing technologies and further emphasizes the unique benefits of venture debt."

Whereas current Ethernet technologies available in the market use fiber wiring, Solarflare's products use the same copper wiring that is present in most data centers and enterprises. Solarflare's use of copper increases compatibility and provides a more cost-effective solution to the company's customers. Solarflare is currently the only developer of Ethernet technology that has successfully implemented copper wiring in its products.

"Solarflare has provided a vital solution to the industry, and the venture debt provided by Hercules will enable us to continue the development of Ethernet technologies that provide easy and cost-effective interconnect solutions," said Russell Stern, president and chief executive officer of Solarflare.

Solarflare is backed by leading venture capital firms including Accel Partners, Anthem Venture Partners, Foundation Capital, Intel Capital, Miramar Venture Partners, Oak Investment Partners, and Revolution Ventures.

About Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc.:

Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. is a NASDAQ traded specialty finance company providing debt and equity growth capital to technology and life science companies at all stages of development. Founded in December 2003, the company primarily finances privately held companies backed by leading venture capital and private equity firms. Hercules invests in a broad range of ventures active in technology and life science industries and offers a full suite of growth capital products up and down the capital structure. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif. and has additional offices in the Boston, Boulder, Los Angeles and Chicago areas. Providing capital to publicly-traded or privately-held companies backed by leading venture capital and private equity firms involves a high degree of credit risk and may result in potential losses of capital. For more information, please visit www.HTGC.com.

Companies interested in learning more about financing opportunities should contact info@HTGC.com, or call 650.289.3060.

About Solarflare Communications

Solarflare Communications Inc. is a leading silicon vendor delivering Ethernet products that enable the rapid adoption of 10 Gigabit for data center and enterprise networks. Solarflare is the only company shipping 100-meter reach, standards-compliant 10GBASE-T PHYs. With solutions that offer performance without compromise, Solarflare enables its switch and server OEM customers to deliver 10 Gigabit Ethernet everywhere. These products include 10GBASE-T PHYs and high-performance Ethernet controllers. The privately held company is headquartered in Irvine, California with a development center in Cambridge, UK. For more information, please visit www.solarflare.com.

Forward-Looking Statements:

The statements contained in this release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, the risks, uncertainties and other factors we identify from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe that the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are reasonable, any of those assumptions could prove to be inaccurate and, as a result, the forward-looking statements based on those assumptions also could be incorrect. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are made as of the date hereof, and Hercules assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements for subsequent events.

Source: Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc.

Released October 29, 2007