• Press Releases
• Archives 1999-2006
• Events
• Awards

Ecrio Inc. Closes $7 million in first round of funding

Global Investors Support Advanced Wireless Messaging for Carriers and Enterprise

Cupertino, California. - February 5, 2001 — Ecrio Inc., a provider of advanced wireless messaging applications and infrastructure, today announced that it has secured $7 million in its first institutional round of funding. Venture firms from both the U.S. and Europe contributed to the round including, Nexit Ventures, CDB Web Tech, Symphony Asset Management's NetNet Ventures and Cirlab!. Michel Wendell, General Partner at Nexit Ventures, a venture firm focusing on companies developing wireless Internet products and services joined Ecrio's Board of Directors. As a global firm with offices in Silicon Valley and Scandinavia, and links to Europe and Asia - Nexit provides Ecrio with insight into these advanced wireless markets.

"Ecrio has secured the support of investors that are focused on next-generation communications and Internet technologies," said Nagesh Challa, president and CEO of Ecrio. "Leveraging the relationships and expertise of our new strategic partners, Ecrio will now be able to offer our Rich Instant Messaging Platform to the international community of wireless carriers and global enterprise. We are delighted to have strong international backers such as Nexit, CDBWebtech, NetNet Ventures and Cirlab!."

"Nexit was attracted to Ecrio's expandable and seamless platform for personal communications, m-Commerce and enterprise applications as we believe wireless messaging is a very exciting market," commented Michel Wendell, General Partner of Nexit Ventures. "We always look for companies that meet the needs of global markets, and Ecrio has a viable, deployable platform that we believe will be very attractive to both U.S. and international companies."

"We have been watching Ecrio from inception as an investor and board member, and continue to be impressed by the team," noted Giacomo Marini, a founder and partner at Cirlab!. "We believe in Ecrio's management. They have a clear vision for changing wireless data communications technology and the technology to do it."

About Nexit Ventures

Nexit Ventures is a venture capital firm that focuses on early stage companies developing the enabling technologies for next-generation applications and services, primarily in the converging fields of computing, the Internet, and wireless communications. Nexit has offices in Finland and Silicon Valley. www.nexitventures.com.

About CDB Web Tech

CDB Web Tech is a publicly traded (Milan Stock Exchange: CDBW) investment company seeking to provide selective and exclusive access to the Silicon Valleys of the world by investing in technology venture capital funds and in private companies in the communications sector. www.cdbwebtech.com.

About NetNet Ventures

NetNet Ventures is the venture capital arm of Symphony Asset Management, a San Francisco based investment management firm with $5 Billion under management. The venture capital investments are focused on companies in the information technology, networking, communications and Internet infrastructure areas with strong management teams and cutting edge technology. www.netnetventures.com.

About Cirlab

Cirlab is a seed and early stage venture investment company sponsored by CIR Group (Milan Stock Exchange: CIRX), a European holding company with interests in media, communications and energy. Cirlab invests in Communications and Internet companies, with special focus on wireless infrastructure and applications. www.cirlab.com.

About Ecrio

Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Ecrio is the leading vendor of real time commerce and communications software for mobile phones. Ecrio provides interoperable and standard compliant software to mobile phone manufacturers and mobile operators. Solutions include mobile commerce applications, including NFC and MoBeam mobile barcode redemption, along with 3G communications applications such as Instant Messaging and Presence Services (IMPS), VideoShare, Voice over IP (VoIP), and Push to Talk over Cellular (PoC). Ecrio's customers include industry leaders such as ASUSTeK, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic and Visa. Visit www.ecrio.com

Ecrio and MoBeam are trademarks of Ecrio Inc. All other brands, products, and company names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holders.

Press Contact:

Larry Loper,
Ecrio lloper@ecrio.com
+1 408 596 1500

Back