Roberto Rocha reports that Mobivox has raised today $11 million from IDG Ventures, Brightspark Ventures, and Skypoint Capital Corp.
Mat Balez previously met Mobivox’s CEO at Red Herring Canada, and hinted about this second series of funding. The new funds will be used for accelerating growth and additionnal services:
the money will go towards opening a Beijing office (China is their third largest customer base) and rolling out premium paid services, like voice SMS and getting info (weather, stock quotes, etc.) via voice commands.
I have to say I was quite skeptical about Mobivox. My first reaction was it was just another VOIP company, in a market that’s overcrowded, with players like jajah backed by big telcos and handset manufacturers. The voice agent also sounded gimmicky. But that’s where I was wrong, the voice agent and voice recognition software was in fact their most precious asset and differentiating factor from other mobile companies. Extending the voice agent to provide an array of services is a great idea, it’s scalable, it’s practical, and easy to use. Going to China is also smart. Congratulations to Mobivox then!
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