MocoSpace raises $3M for mobile social network

Boston-based MocoSpace, which offers a mobile social network to let you find friends in your area, send them photos, and chat with them, has raised $3 million in a first round of funding.

The poor company originally told us the funding round was scheduled for announcement next week, but then rushed out the announcement today after it leaked out last week — only to have its site go down today without warning (it is down of this writing).

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It says it has “nearly” a million users, though it isn’t clear how many of those are active.

It’s clearly betting that mobile users want to be social and that the major social networks like Facebook and MySpace, who have won the game on the Web, may not adapt as well to the quick-based nature of people on the move. MocoSpace is easy to use, though how many people will adopt MocoSpace over the range of other possible services is open to question. It says 76 million people have mobile in the US 6.7 percent of them use mobile chat or dating applications, according to Telephia and M:Metrics, respectively.

The funding is led by General Catalyst Partners of Cambridge, Mass., with additional funding through Pilot Group and individual investor and former eBay executive Michael Dearing.

The company also has an office in Herzeliya, Israel.