If you thought instant messaging technologies were pretty much controlled by big incumbent players like AOL, Yahoo, and MSN, check out all the money flowing to some IM-related start-ups recently.
Take OZ Communications, a company that was dissolved last year after eating through about $25 million in backing. It’s now back in a second reincarnation — with help from Silicon Valley money. Yesterday OZ said it received $27.3 million from local firm VantagePoint Venture Partners. OZ, based in Montreal, is developing standards-based mobile instant messaging products for handset vendors and mobile operators around the world.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":27,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,","session":"C"}']Much of the other new IM action is bubbling up in Silicon Valley. Last month, investors pumped $16 million into FaceTime Communications, a start-up in Foster City, that helps companies implement IM systems with controls to minimize network secruity risks and avoid running afoul of regulatory or corporate guidelines. JK&B Capital led the round, with previous investors BA Venture Partners, Sutter Hill ventures and TH Lee Putnam Ventures participating.
Also last month, Five Across, a Palo Alto IM start-up formed last year scored $2 million. Five Across supplies instant messaging software for business workgroups, and the first round of VC money came from Granite Ventures and Adobe ventures, the venture arm of Adobe Systems. For a one-time fee of $29, its product includes features like chat blogs, polls, visual meeting scheduling and the ability to forward alerts to e-mails and cell phones.
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