vFinance Poll: Bush Leads Kerry Among Entrepreneurs; Despite Strong Republican Majority, Bush...

NEW YORK -- 53.6% of entrepreneurs plan to vote for President Bush compared to 46.4% for Democratic challenger John Kerry, according to the results of a Poll released this week from vFinance, Inc., (OTCBB:VFIN), a leading financial services firm providing investment banking, brokerage and trading

More than 500 entrepreneurs who are likely voters responded to the Poll, which was conducted between September 30th and October 4th 2004. Although President Bush won a majority in every question asked about the economy, entrepreneurs believe they are worse off than they were four years ago by a 51.6% to 48.4% margin. In the important question of which candidate will do more to help their business, entrepreneurs favor Bush by 55% to 45%.

"The interesting finding of this poll is the relatively small margin that President Bush enjoys among entrepreneurs despite an overwhelming Republican affiliation," said Ken McCarthy, Chief Economist at vFinance Investments, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of vFinance Inc. "Republicans accounted for 38% of all respondents, compared with only 20% Democrats and 29% independent. This is a marked contrast to the general population where other surveys report 33% of voters identify themselves as Democrats, 20% as Republicans and 38% independent. With Republicans representing such a large plurality of the respondents, one would expect President Bush to have a much bigger lead. In fact, among Independents and unaffiliated voters, John Kerry holds a 58% to 42% lead, suggesting that support for Bush among non-Republican entrepreneurs is weak."

According to the Poll, most entrepreneurs believe President Bush will do a better job of managing the economy (53.5% to 46.5%) and by a 54.6% to 45.4% margin believe that Bush understands the issues that most affect small rapidly growing businesses.

vFinance produces the vFinance Entrepreneurial Confidence Index (VECI) which measures entrepreneur and private equity investor interest (by industry) worldwide. During this past month, more than 3,500 entrepreneurs, and private investors participated in the VECI at http://www.vfinance.com, the Internet's leading private equity portal. The VECI is an important tool for the early identification of emerging technologies, companies and industries and a leading indicator in identifying mature or declining market sectors.

About vFinance:

vFinance, Inc. is a rapidly growing financial services company that provides research, investment banking, brokerage and trading services to more than 10,000 corporate, institutional and private clients worldwide. The Company has offices in New York, San Jose, Houston, Boca Raton and 24 other cities nationwide. Its subsidiary, vFinance Investments, Inc., is a registered broker-dealer with the SEC and a member of the NASD.

http://www.vfinance.com, the company's Web site, is a leading destination on the Internet for companies seeking capital, as well as institutional and high net-worth investors seeking dynamic high-growth companies. Each year, the site hosts more than one million visitors from over 90 countries. This audience creates a perpetual, global deal stream for vFinance's bricks-and-mortar financial service units and enables VFIN's Research Department to identify emerging trends, market segments and pioneering firms.

For more information on the vFinance Entrepreneur Election Survey and Entrepreneurial Confidence Index, or a copy of the Official 2004 VECI Report, please contact Ken McCarthy at 212-508-4738 or kjmccarthy@vfinance.com.

For vFinance Investors

This release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release, which are not strictly historical statements, including, without limitation, statements by management, statements concerning internal operations, marketing, management's plans, objectives and strategies, and management's assessment of market factors and conditions, constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitations, the volatility of domestic and international financial, bond and stock markets, intense competition, extensive governmental regulation, litigation, substantial fluctuations in the volume and price level of securities and other risks as detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. vFinance assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information in this press release.