4. Kineticsware

Founded: September 2006

Location: Washington, U.S.

What does the company offer? Kineticsware sells extensions to the Microsoft Dynamics and Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform to companies in the supply-chain-intensive high tech, consumer goods and apparel industries. The software addresses customer and supplier collaboration, e-procurement, business-to-business integration, sales and operations planning, supply chain planning, and customer life-cycle management. The company launched its product line in March. Most deployments will cost US$50,000 to US$300,000.

Why is it worth watching? Kineticsware was founded by Jeffrey Sampson and Richard Barnett, the former heads of the Microsoft Dynamics line of products for financials, supply chain and CRM.

How did the company get its start? Sampson and Barnett left Microsoft in June after the US$100 million sale of the thePlatform for Media to Comcast. Sampson had been managing partner of a venture capital firm that funded thePlatform, and decided to leave Microsoft when he received his share of the sale's proceeds.

How did the company get its name? Kineticsware refers to kinetic energy -- the extra energy an object possesses because of its motion -- as opposed to potential energy, which is stored for later use. Barnett says they chose the name because Kineticsware lets customers innovate quickly and adapt to opportunities presented by the Microsoft Dynamics product line.

CEO and background: Sampson, president and CEO, spent two years at Microsoft. He began his career as an investment banker, and was a senior executive at several start-up software companies before joining Microsoft.

Funding: About US$2 million, largely from Sampson and such limited partners as Ron Conway, one of Google's earliest investors, and PeopleSoft co-founder Peggy Taylor.

Who's using the product? The first customer is Microsoft's Xbox .