Press release - 3/12/15

News Release

Firsthand Technology Value Fund Discloses Top Portfolio Holdings

San Jose, CA, March 12, 2015 -Firsthand Technology Value Fund, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVVC) (the "Fund"), a publicly-traded venture capital fund that invests in technology and cleantech companies, disclosed today that its top five holdings as of February 28, 2015 were IntraOp, Pivotal, Mattson, Turn, and QMAT.

1. IntraOp Medical Corp. is the manufacturer of the Mobetron, a medical device that is used to deliver intra-operative radiation to cancer patients. As of February 28, 2015, the Fund's investment in IntraOp consisted of 23,300,000 shares of preferred stock plus debt securities and represented approximately 11.7% of the Fund's estimated net assets.* 2. Pivotal Systems, Inc. provides monitoring and process control technologies for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. As of February 28, 2015, the Fund's investment in Pivotal consisted of 22,148,288 shares of preferred stock plus debt securities, and represented approximately 10.6% of the Fund's estimated net assets.* 3. Mattson Technology, Inc. (MTSN) designs, manufactures, and markets wafer

processing equipment for use in making semiconductor devices. As of February 28, 2015, the Fund's investment in Mattson consisted of 3,280,000 shares of common stock and represented approximately 8.0% of the Fund's estimated net assets.*

4. Turn Inc. is a leading provider of advertising technology to Fortune 1000 marketers and their agencies. As of February 28, 2015, the Fund's investment in Turn consisted of

1,798,562 shares of preferred stock and represented approximately 7.7% of the Fund's estimated net assets.*

5. QMAT, Inc. is developing advanced materials technologies for applications in the electronics industry. As of February 28, 2015, the Fund's investment in QMAT consisted

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of 12,000,240 shares of preferred stock plus warrants to purchase additional shares, and represented approximately 6.1% of the Fund's estimated net assets.*
During the month of February, Mattson Technology common stock appreciated 45%, driving the company into the Fund's top five holdings. Mattson is a small-cap company in the semiconductor equipment industry that the Fund first purchased in 2013.
The Fund also announced that, as of February 28, 2015, estimated net assets of the Fund were approximately $196 million, or $25.44 per share, including cash of approximately $1.30 per share. As of that date, the Fund's top five holdings constituted 44.1% of the Fund's estimated net assets. Complete financial statements and a detailed schedule of investments as of December 31,
2014, will be made available with the Fund's annual report filing on Form 10-K in March 2015.

About Firsthand Technology Value Fund

Firsthand Technology Value Fund, Inc. is a publicly-traded venture capital fund that invests in technology and cleantech companies. More information about the Fund and its holdings can be found online at www.firsthandtvf.com.

*Estimated net assets as of February 28, 2015 represent preliminary net assets of approximately $210 million as of December 31, 2014 plus the net change in realized and unrealized gains/losses on publicly- traded securities since December 31, 2014. For the purposes of calculating the percentage of net assets represented by each investment, the value of each holding is determined by the most recent of: (1) the purchase price, (2) the market value for public securities, less any discounts taken due restrictions on the stock, or (3) the December 31, 2014 fair value of each security, as determined by our Board of Directors.

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The Fund is a non-diversified, closed-end investment company that elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The Fund's investment objective is to seek long-term growth of capital. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets for investment purposes in technology and cleantech companies.

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined under the U.S. federal securities laws. Generally, the words "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "project," "will," and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ from the Fund's historical experience and its present expectations or projections indicated in any forward-looking statement. These risks include, but are not limited to, changes in economic and political conditions, regulatory and legal changes, technology and cleantech industry risk, valuation risk, non-diversification

risk, interest rate risk, tax risk, and other risks discussed in the Fund's filings with the SEC. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. The Fund undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein. There is no assurance that the Fund's investment objectives will be attained. We acknowledge that, notwithstanding the foregoing, the safe harbor for forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 does not apply to investment companies such as us.

Contact:

Heather Hohlowski
Firsthand Capital Management, Inc. (408) 624-9525 vc@firsthandtvf.com

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