Agito, Nimbuzz Score Second Round Funding

Doug Mohney — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:58:59 -0400

Mobile UC/FMC hardware maker Agito Networks and mobile VoIP software/social network client Nimbuzz both have secured their second rounds of venture funding this week.

Silicon Valley-based Agito received around $13 million, with Castile Ventures leading the round and ITX and original investor Battery Ventures also participating. Agito intends to apply the money to further market expansion in the enterprise fixed mobile convergence (eFMC) arena and for product development. Agito's RoamAnywhere Mobility Router is fine-tuned to use location-aware technologies to switch between cellular and VoIP 802.11-based calls.

Nimbuzz raised $15 million in its second round, with funding lead by Naspers/MIH and first round investor Mangrove Capital Partners also participating. The company will take its funding to continue to develop its application and its proliferation, including "strategic" distribution deals with social networks and mobile operators. Operators are expected to sign on because Nimbuzz drives traffic and demand for mobile data services while the software has to be ported to Windows Mobile, iPhone, and Android; currently, the full software and functionality only works on Symbian Series 60 devices while Java-enabled phones can do a hybrid-VoIP solution for making low-cost international calls.

For more:
- Agito second round funding announcement

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Nimbuzz Retreads Familiar Ground

Nimbuzz Retreads Familiar Ground

Doug Mohney — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:25:39 -0400

Nimbuzz has announced an application to provide free calls, chat and more, pumping an all-in-one solution for free mobile VoIP calling, conferencing calling, instant messaging, chat and group chat, and photo and file sharing across multiple IM communities, including Skype, MSN, Google Talk, Yahoo, and AIM, plus 23 social networks, including Facebook and Myspace. Is an offer to include a set of Ginzu knives far behind?

It's hard to get excited because of the glut of companies offering bits and pieces to the puzzle, ranging from Skype with a mobile client, free client-to-client calling and IM solution to Jajah/Jangl's bits splicing in VoIP to social networking. Nimbuzz's Swiss Army knife approach with a S****-out approach to pick up a couple of pennies per minute per call sounds tired. Skype isn't standing still either, moving to testing a mobile VoIP client in Europe and other improvements no doubt in the works.

Despite being officially announced today, Nimbuzz says it already has more than 500,000 registered users (collected through their beta started in January 2007) and is generating more than a million logins per week. The company resides in Rotterdam and boasts of venture and strategic funding by Mangrove Capital Partners, the VC backers of Skype.

For more:
- Nimbuzz TechCrunch/Washington Post write-up.

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Jangl and TalkPlus On the Block
Skype's mobilized phone play