Another investment in mobile marketing and advertising

Posted by on June 13, 2008 · Leave a Comment 

Logo_5thfinger US based mobile marketing company 5th Finger raises $7M says alarm:clock. According to our research, this is mobile company number 43 receiving an A or B round this year. Mobile marketing and mobile advertising remain hot areas for VCs to invest.

Interesting to see that mobile marketing companies receive funding, while they almost sit at the end of the mobile content value chain. VC's must see serious growth potential in brand advertisers activating and migrating their marketing dollars towards mobile advertising.

The problem today: no available mobile advertising inventory, either on the mobile web, or through opted-in SMS text messaging. This can slow down the growth of companies such as 5th Finger. The solution: Mobiya has a fully opted-in and real-time SMS text messaging mobile advertising inventory. We are a key-supplier in the mobile marketing ecosystem. Without mobile advertising inventory there is no mobile marketing, no inventory for companies such as 5th Finger, no VC's making a return on their investment.

Filed under Blog Pages · Tagged with

Over 40 mobile content startups received venture capital in 2008

Posted by on June 10, 2008 · Leave a Comment 

We are just half-way down 2008 and well-over 40 mobile content startups have received venture capital funding this year. In my research, I've only included companies that received A and/or B round funding. I estimate the total number of VC-backed mobile content companies to round up to about 100 by the end of 2008.

You can download the listing here: Download mobstartup08.pdf.

Some conclusions:

  • about 23% or 10 startups are outside the USA
  • about 60% or 15 startups have closed a B-round
  • A-round varies from $3M to $10M, with exceptions of one at $1.5M
  • B-round varies from $3M to $15M with a good average of $10M

Interesting points:

  • certain startups have received a B-round without having a public service available
  • all European companies seem to have mobile presence/activity in the US market
  • on average, startups have about 4 distribution deals, being it with operators or publishers.
  • a variety of services such as mobile coupons, mobile marketing, mobile e-mail, mobile backup and even two companies active in real-estate listings by GPS and LBS.
  • No mobile classified company, such as Mobiya listed yet.

Filed under Blog Pages · Tagged with