Ecrio Completes $24 Million Investment Round
CSK, JAIC and Nomura Join Aplix, NTT DoCoMo, Visa
Cupertino, CA, USA - September 17, 2007 -- Ecrio, the pioneer in real-time communications and commerce software for mobile phones, today announced the completion of its 'C' investment round, which exceeded U.S. $24 million dollars. CSK, JAIC, and Nomura Securities, all global firms which closely track the wireless industry, joined Aplix, NTT DoCoMo, Visa, and current investor Noventi/CIR Ventures in the round. JAIC will add a director to Ecrio's board, joining members from Nexit Ventures, Noventi/CIR Ventures, and Ecrio.
"Ecrio's recent string of good news, including the continued rollout of Ecrio-powered 3G handsets in Japan; the launch of MoBeam™ for mobile barcodes; and Ecrio's development work on Visa's mobile payment platform; made this a prime opportunity to attract additional funding," said Nagesh Challa, Ecrio's chairman and CEO. "The additional resources allow us to pursue a wide range of strategic opportunities, from increases to our sales, technical and marketing staff, to enhancing our product line through partnership or acquisition."
About the Investors
CSK Venture Capital invests in and nurtures venture companies in Japan and overseas, emphasizing the areas of Information Technology and Life Science. The firm also establishes and manages partnership funds; works with IPO opportunities; and performs management consulting.
Japan Asia Investment Company (JAIC) is venture capital firm focusing on early stage investments. JAIC's mission is to creating cross-border business models in the Asia-Pacific area through investment in the US. To date JAIC has invested over $60 million in investments to more than 30 U.S. companies.
Nomura is a global financial services group dedicated to providing a broad range of financial services for individual, institutional, corporate and government clients. The Group's business activities include investment consultation and brokerage services for retail investors in Japan, and, on a global basis, brokerage services, securities underwriting, investment banking advisory services, merchant banking, and asset management. www.nomura.com.
Noventi/CIR Ventures is an early stage, Silicon Valley based, technology venture capital firm. Noventi's past investments include Bitfone, acquired by HP; Easy Market, acquired by TUI; M7, acquired by BEA Systems; and Sygate, acquired by Symantec.
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 3G communications applications, such as Instant Messaging and Presence Services (IMPS), VideoShare, Voice over IP (VoIP), and Push to Talk over Cellular (PoC); and mobile commerce applications, including NFC and MoBeam mobile barcode redemption. Ecrio's customers include industry leaders such as ASUSTeK, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, and Panasonic. 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.
Contact:
David Beebe
Ecrio, Inc.
Phone: +1 408 366 7900 x158
Email: dbeebe@ecrio.com
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