uLocate Communications, Inc., an award-winning publisher of location-enabled mobile applications, today announced the close of an oversubscribed investment round of $11 million. Poised at the leading edge of the LBS mobile application market, uLocate will use the capital to fuel the continued development and marketing of the WHERE platform. International venture capital firm Venrock led the round, with additional participation from returning investors GrandBanks Capital and Kodiak Venture Partners. Venrock’s General Partner, Mike Tyrrell, also joined uLocate’s Board of Directors.
“The use of location aware and location enabled services is absolutely exploding,” said Mike Tyrrell. “uLocate’s WHERE platform enables content and application companies to easily develop and quickly deploy mobile applications. WHERE also simplifies the discovery of content, enabling consumers to select from a wide variety of such apps via the Web or their handset. WHERE removes an incredible amount of friction for all three constituencies; developer, operator, and consumer….everybody wins.”
WHERE is the first application development platform that addresses the major challenges facing developers and operators in the mobile application landscape. Built on the same framework that powers MapQuest™ FindMe and Helio’s™ Buddy Beacon, WHERE delivers the promise of marrying mobile technology with GPS. As a result, consumers have a wealth of content to choose from, effectively personalizing their mobile GPS experience. WHERE helps you find the people, places and things that matter to you.
“End user spending on mobile consumer data services in 2007 will grow to $13 billion in North America. Spending on consumer location-based services in North America is expected to increase by 160% this year as GPS-enabled mobile phones become more prevalent,” said Phil Taylor, Director of the Wireless Media Strategies Service for Strategy Analytics. “Companies poised to lead this market explosion are those able to leverage location content with an easy application model for both consumers and carriers.”
“We’re delighted to have Mike join our Board and assist us in our pursuit of delighting consumers around the world,” said Walt Doyle, CEO and President of uLocate. “Our mission with WHERE is simple. We make it easy for developers to create and deliver great content to the handset. In turn, consumers can personalize their mobile GPS experience through a breadth of content that is relevant to where they are at any given time.”
