Hercules Provides $7 Million to Serious USA Inc., Developer of Patented Multi-Media Technology

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

Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTGC), a leading specialty finance company providing growth capital in the form of venture debt and equity to venture capital and private equity backed technology and life science companies at all stages of development, announced today that on July 27, 2007, it provided $7 million of venture debt to Serious USA, Inc., a media technology company.

"A well-developed portfolio of global patents and intellectual property coupled with recent high-profile partnerships encouraged Hercules' decision to provide growth capital to Serious," said Roy Liu, managing director at Hercules. "We believe the company is a pioneer in the marketing industry, and it has found a ground-breaking way to improve upon traditional marketing strategies across multiple sectors."

Serious' CD and DVD Card media can be distributed in various formats, including direct mail pieces such as postcards, give-aways, magazine cover mounts and tips ins. The cards carry custom interactive content combining high engagement time and comprehensive brand experiences, all of which are fully trackable for post-campaign analysis.

Serious' impressive roster of global clients includes Circuit City, Manchester United, Disney, The Indy 500, Virgin, McKesson, BBC Worldwide and The Lance Armstrong Foundation. The company's most recent release was an interactive gift card produced for the retailer, Circuit City, tied into the theatrical launch of "Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End."

"The venture debt financing from Hercules will allow us to further grow our sales and marketing efforts," explained David Brown, president and chief executive officer of Serious. "This financing will allow Serious to continue to serve its global brand companies as they expand their relationships with Serious. As a result, we expect to see more rapid growth and continued product development."

Serious is backed by leading venture capital firms, including Greenhill SAVP and North Hill Ventures.

About Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc.:

Founded in December 2003, 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. The Company primarily finances privately held companies backed by leading venture capital and private equity firms and also may finance certain publicly-traded companies. Hercules' strategy is to evaluate and invest in a broad range of ventures active in technology and life science industries and to offer a full suite of growth capital products up and down the capital structure to prospective clients ranging from early-stage growth to expansion stage companies. The Company's investments are originated through its principal office located in Silicon Valley, as well as additional offices in the Boston, Boulder, Costa Mesa 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. HT-PR

About Serious USA, Inc.:

Serious is an award-winning, privately held digital publisher and marketer with offices in New York, London and Singapore. Its portfolio of intellectual property includes over 100 optical card patents in 60 countries. Applications of its proprietary technology include interactive gift cards, loyalty cards, pharmaceutical patient education cards, direct mail programs and collectible digital trading cards. Serious' clients include Disney, BBC Worldwide, Best Buy, Vodafone, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Electronic Arts, Circuit City, five of the top 10 US pharmaceutical companies, Manchester United, Sony Pictures, New Line Cinema, Warner Brothers, ESPN and Campbell's. Serious won the 2007 Promo Interactive Marketing Award and is a finalist in the upcoming 2007 Pro Awards. It was also a finalist in the Sport Industry Awards 2006 & 2007 and the British Video Association Awards 2007. Official site: www.serious.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 August 15, 2007