Telefonica, Nokia Growth Partners and DoCoMo Capital Are Among Investors in Second Round of Funding
Kyte today announced it has raised $15 million in a second round
of funding. The round was led by Telefonica, the world´s fourth
largest global telecommunications firm, with Nokia Growth Partners,
the global private equity and venture capital management arm of Nokia,
and DoCoMo Capital, Inc., a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of NTT
DoCoMo, Inc., the leading mobile communication company based in Japan,
also participating. Other investors in this round include Swisscom,
Holtzbrinck Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurveston.
The investments from these global wireless leaders will serve to
further the development and distribution of Kyte´s award-winning
social communications platform. Kyte itself is not a destination, but
an enabling communications platform that allows partners, through a
Kyte-powered service, to offer users an easy way to share pictures and
video from their mobile phone or the web that are instantly broadcast
to multiple destinations, including websites, blogs, social networks
and other mobile phones. For example, multi-platinum selling hip-hop
artist and mogul 50 Cent uses Kyte to broadcast exclusive
behind-the-scenes footage captured with a Nokia N95 from his latest
world tour to multiple official and fan-run websites, and other mobile
phones. Using Kyte, fans interact with 50 Cent on the web and their
mobile phones through multimedia chat and share their own videos and
photos with him and each other.
"Kyte is proud to be working with world leaders in the wireless
industry who share in our vision for the future of social
communications and creating compelling new ways for consumers to
connect with each other," said Daniel Graf, co-founder and CEO of
Kyte. "Through partner integrations we have the potential to reach a
massive audience and build a global communications network."
Investor Comments about Kyte
"We see Kyte as a strategic investment because they have created a
platform that brings together social networking and mobile services in
a way that has never been done before," said Russ Shaw, Director of
Innovation at Telefonica. "Working together we can offer our customers
a Kyte-powered service that brings together web-based and mobile
communications in new and compelling ways. We look forward to working
closely with Kyte to help the company to thrive and expand globally."
"We have always been at the forefront of mobile innovation in
Japan and are excited to be investing in Kyte, a company that is
pushing the boundaries of advancement in mobile communications," said
Nobuyuki Akimoto, President and CEO of DoCoMo Capital. "Increasingly,
we are finding that users want new and creative ways to connect with
one another and Kyte enables them to do just that, anytime and
anywhere."
"We are investing in Kyte because we see them as a groundbreaking
company, tying together multimedia creation and consumption in
real-time across multiple platforms," said Rob Trice of Nokia Growth
Partners. "Kyte sits at the crossroads of multiple trends in
consumer-generated content and we are excited to be a part of the
growth of this innovative company."
About Kyte
The Kyte social communications platform enables partners --
including media companies, social networks and mobile operators -- to
offer their users an easy way to create embedded interactive channels
and produce multimedia shows in real-time from their mobile phones or
the web that are broadcast to multiple destinations including social
networks, blogs and other mobile phones. Using the hosted platform and
developer API, Kyte partners provide their users with an exciting way
to stay connected through a next-generation social communications
experience. For more information, please visit: http://www.kyte.tv.
The service is operated by decentral.tv, a San Francisco-based
company backed by global investors, including Atomico (co-founded by
Niklas Zennstrom), Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Draper Richards, Ron
Conway, Telefonica, Nokia Growth Partners, DoCoMo Capital, Swisscom,
Holtzbrinck Ventures and leading European angel investors.
