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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
PlayPhone Mobilizes with $18.75 Million in Series C Funding Led by Scale Venture Partners
SAN JOSE, Calif., May 10 -- PlayPhone, Inc. announced today that it has secured $18.75 million in Series C funding led by Scale Venture Partners and joined by existing investors, Cardinal Venture Partners and Menlo Ventures. This funding will allow PlayPhone to expand into additional international markets this year and to capitalize on its successes in the entertainment industry, where it has achieved the distinction of being the off-deck partner of choice for premier entertainment brands. PlayPhone also announced that Sharon Wienbar, managing director at Scale Venture Partners, has joined their board of directors.
"PlayPhone's direct-to-consumer distribution model has established a new standard in the mobile entertainment industry during the past year," said Ron Czerny, founder and chief executive officer at PlayPhone. "We have emerged as a clear and dominant force in mobile media and we look forward to expanding our business internationally and introducing exciting new services with leading entertainment brands."
PlayPhone is a mobile media and entertainment company focused on the global distribution of wireless games, ringtones, electronic wallpaper, videos and other premium content featuring top-tier brands. The company was founded with the goal of bringing mobile entertainment to the masses and improving the experience for consumers by making premium mobile media available online, at retail and in other places consumers visit every day. PlayPhone operates its mobile portal at PlayPhone.com, and powers mobile destinations for leading media and entertainment brands, including SEGA, ABC, Bandai, Lycos and RealNetworks.
"ScaleVP has deep experience with mobile entertainment and technology companies, so it was quick to identify the significant market opportunities in expanding beyond the carrier decks for content distribution," said Sharon Wienbar, managing director with Scale Venture Partners. "We believe that PlayPhone is very well positioned to drive growth in both the direct-to-consumer and business-to-business segments. It is an exciting time to be working closely with PlayPhone and help them achieve their objectives in 2007 and beyond."
About Scale Venture Partners
Scale Venture Partners employs a thesis-based strategy to identify innovative development-stage technology and healthcare investments. The ScaleVP team works with technology and healthcare companies to accelerate their growth and become more valuable to entrepreneurs, investors and consumers. Based in Foster City, California, the ScaleVP team collectively offers decades of technology and venture industry experience to development-stage companies in hardware, software, healthcare and medical devices. Representative portfolio companies include Alimera, Frontbridge, Glu Mobile, Good Technology, Monolithic Power Systems, Omniture, Orexigen, Placeware, ScanSafe, Seattle Genetics, Somaxon, Wayport and Xceive. For more information, visit www.scalevp.com
About PlayPhone, Inc.
PlayPhone is a leading mobile media company providing cutting edge personalization and entertainment content to mobile consumers anytime, anywhere. PlayPhone founded the direct-to-consumer mobile media distribution standard in 2003 and continues to establish new means for delivering wireless entertainment. The company currently operates its own leading mobile entertainment destination at PlayPhone.com and powers subscription-based mobile portals for the world's top entertainment brands. PlayPhone is based in San Jose, Calif. and is funded by top venture firms Menlo Ventures, Cardinal Venture Capital and Scale Venture Partners.
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