Pop open the bubbly! Voice-messaging company Bubble Motion raises $5M

It may not be as much fun or sparkly as champagne, but Bubble Motion announced today that it took in $5 million in investment to spread its voice-communication platform globally.

Explained as “Twitter with a voice,” flagship product Bubbly is a social messaging service. Users talk into their mobile phones and can then send SMS or voice updates to friends, family, and followers.

The service is extremely popular in Asian countries and recently surpassed 19 million users.

Rather than lengthy voicemails or emotionless emoticons, Bubbly offers a “microblogging” alternative. Users can get their point across quickly, yet with feeling. A number of Asian celebrities have been using it to send updates to their fans, although unlocking access to these posts is a premium option.

Bubble Motion is based in Singapore and primarily has a presence in Asia. According to a statement, the company was not seeking funding, but when approached by the major Japanese VC firm JAFCO, it saw great potential for the investment.

With this money, Bubble Motion plans to delve deeper into Asian markets like India, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It received $10 million in its second round of financing in March 2011 from Sequoia Capital, Singtel Innov8, Comcast, NGC, and Infocomm Investments.