MobileMonday Global

^{LinkRich gets USD 3 million} Siemens invests in Chinese service provider

Siemens Mobile Acceleration (SMAC), an investor in early-stage wireless projects, last week added another China-based company to its roster. LinkRich is a fast growing service provider that brings information services from traditional sources – government institutions, enterprises and media houses – to mobile users. The funding amounts to three million dollars in the first round of institutional financing and is provided by Siemens Mobile Acceleration and Morningside Technologies. The Beijing-based company differentiates itself from other service providers in China by focusing on the enterprise market. Specifically, LinkRich uses existing information from enterprises and government institutions, as well as entertainment offerings from media houses and brings them to the mobile phone using SMS, WAP, MMS and IVR platforms. Typical examples of LinkRich’s services include real-time SMS-based banking information services for China Everbright Bank and its VIP customers, and real-time SMS- and WAP-based flight information for the majority of airports in China. The company is well positioned among its competitors, having acquired essential business licenses for the provision of emerging wireless data applications and services for both mobile and fixed-network operators, SMAC estimates. LinkRich is the second company in Greater China that SMAC has funded in 2004. In total, SMAC holds a portfolio of four companies in the region.

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