Start-Up Will Provide Digital Paper Trail

By KAREN KAPLAN

Oct. 23, 2000 12 AM PT

One of the advantages of e-commerce is that transactions can occur without generating stacks of paper. But what are companies to do when they need paper records of their buying and selling activities?

That’s the problem that 10-month-old Archive Inc. in Culver City intends to solve. The start-up has developed a service that stores computer-generated documents--such as purchase orders, invoices and requests for quotes--so companies can access their digital paper trails when they need them.

Archive, which has 55 employees, began beta testing its system with a handful of companies last month and expects to launch its service in January, said Chief Executive Jim McDermott. The company is expected to announce today that it has raised $18 million from e-commerce security firm VeriSign, database giant Oracle, data-storage maker EMC and several venture capitalists.

Technology and the Internet Business

Karen Kaplan

Karen Kaplan covers science and medical research for the Los Angeles Times. She has been a member of the science team since 2005, including 13 years as an editor. Her first decade at The Times was spent covering technology in the Business section as both a reporter and editor. She grew up in San Diego and is a graduate of MIT and Columbia University.

Start-Up Will Provide Digital Paper Trail

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