European and Asian leadership in consumer demand for advanced mobile
applications has driven a look to global markets for early technology
to bring it to the U.S., usually in partnership with operators or at
least with assistance from U.S. investors with contacts in the
industry. But in funding French instant messaging and Web 2.0 mobile
applications developer Miyowa two years ago, Silicon Valley-based
Techfund was a little head of the game.
Originally formed in the mid-1990s with a U.S. fund, Techfund launched
a Paris fund in 2001, and eventually made that its sole focus. So after Miyowa raised a total of $4.7 million from angel investors including Loic Le Meur, the French entrepreneur and founder of Seesmic, and in a first round from Techfund in 2006 with the aim of expanding in
Europe and eventually coming to the U.S. as carrier adoption of
advanced mobile applications geared up, Miyowa didn't feel a need to
bring in a traditional U.S. investor for its $8 million second
round. Instead, it's adding Paris-based Credit Agricole Private Equity as the sole new investor.
"Sometimes we love to bring in a U.S. investor because of the expertise
they can provide, but in this case they have done such a great job in
the last 12 months establishing a presence in Silicon Valley and
Washington State, that it just wasn't the case," says Kurt Keilhacker,
managing partner with Techfund.
Miyowa will use the bulk off its new capital to open a U.S.
headquarters in Cupertino, and the company is currently recruiting an
executive team headed by CEO Pascal Lorne, who is relocating from
Paris. The company is focusing on core instant messaging applications,
and offering carriers turnkey products to link customers immediately
with leading social media networks and Web 2.0 applications using their
handsets and other mobile devices. -
- Clifford Carlsen
See June 26 press release from Miyowa
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