Seattle Medio gets USD 11 million — MobileMonday Global: Industry News

^{Partnering with Nokia} Seattle Medio gets USD 11 million

20 Nov 2005 at 15:46 GMT Timo Poropudas

Mobile search start-up Medio Systems Inc. announced earlier in November USD 11.25 million venture investment. Medio has been Nokia’s partner since August.

The Series A investment was led Mohr Davidow Ventures and Frazier Technology Ventures co-led the round, with participation from Dot Edu Ventures.

Medio’s seed round in December 2004 came from its incubator Mohr Davidow, where co-founder and Chief Executive Brian Lent was an entrepreneur-in-residence.

Seattle company will use funds to continue product development and build its advertising platform. Medio has about 40 employees and is hiring more.

Medio provides a mobile search service and application to consumers that’s sold through wireless mobile carriers. With its software, Medio aims to help carriers sell more digital content, like ringtones, games and video, Lent said.

The user can also find information like news, stock quotes, local weather and directory searches and entertainment.

Medio is adopting a business model focused around pay-for-performance mobile ads and revenue sharing. Lent expects the service to be free to consumers. San Francisco-based UpSNAP!, provides similar SMS-based directory/advertising service.

Founded May 2004, the company has developed products since the summer of 2004. Its public launch in Europe was Aug. 1 via a Nokia partnership. As part of the partnership, Nokia included Medio’s search capability in certain phones.

“The goal is to promote its use in Europe and to highlight benefits of working with Nokia,” Lent said. North American announcements are coming later in the fourth quarter.

Over the last six years the Medio team has shipped over 50 mobile data applications and commercial services on over 250 mobile phone models operating on more than 65 wireless carriers worldwide.
Medio ecosystem