Miyowa, which supplies Instant Messaging (IM) and presence-enriched Mobile Web 2.0 technologies, has announced the completion of a second round of financing worth $8 million, (4 million), bringing the companys total financing to date to $12.7 million.
Participants in the funding round included Techfund, who funded Miyowas first round of financing in September 2006, and Crdit Agricole Private Equity, a new investor. Miyowa says that, combined with revenue derived from increased mobile operator contract wins, the additional financing will be used to accelerate commercialisation of its existing products, to bring to market a revolutionary enriched mobile IM solution, and to expand operations into the US and Asia.
Global mobile usage patterns are changing, says Michel de Lempdes, Investment Director at Crdit Agricole Private Equity. Mobile users now want to have access to all of their social desktop PC applications anywhere and at anytime. The unique technology of Miyowa answers the mobile operators needs as they look for new mobile web usages, made possible by the launch and quick adoption of unlimited data subscriptions. We think Miyowas ability to offer innovative, new services in an unrestrictive fashion with almost no infrastructure investment, places it in prime position to take advantage of this market change, and provide the mobile applications that operators are seeking.
Founded in April 2003 by Pascal Lorne and Franois Colon, Miyowa develops rich media mobile applications that provide mobile operators and handset makers with premium service offerings over their data plans and devices without the entering of restrictive relationships with social networks and IM providers, while providing mobile users with a superior mobile experience.  Based in Paris, Miyowa has been profitable since its second year, and notes that it was the fastest growing company in the mobile IM industry in 2007, winning more operator contracts than any other competitor.
Miyowas previous success in the mobile IM market in Europe provides it with a unique opportunity to further unify instant messaging, presence and social networks for mobile consumption, says Kurt Keilhacker, a Venture Partner at Techfund North America. Miyowa is becoming an international success because it understands the future of wireless and is developing a technology roadmap that allows its partners to profit from it.
The investment will be used to further expand Miyowas operations into the US and Asia, spearheaded by the opening of offices in Cupertino, California, and Singapore. Miyowa has recruited Sergio De Acha as Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development to lead the US expansion and establish traction with US mobile carriers and handset developers. The companys commitment to the US market is further underscored by the companys CEO, Pascal Lornes relocation to the US for the near term to ensure the companys direction is in line with the US markets needs.
The Singapore office will be headed by Tom Huang, Vice President for Asia Pacific sales, who will look to build on the immediate successes realised in Asia with the winning of a mobile operator contract in 2007.
After five exciting years, Miyowa has proven that instant messaging can be a global success on mobile devices, says Lorne. This new financing further validates Miyowas position as the worldwide leader in the mobile instant messaging market and places us in position to capitalise on the new opportunities the mobile applications market presents. The market is entering a new phase where convergence, presence and social networks will become key in next generation mobile applications. With the new financing from Techfund and Crdit Agricole Private Equity, and the addition of Sergio De Acha and Tom Huang to lead our US and Asia expansion efforts, Miyowa will look to address these market needs, and deploy our mobile innovations globally.