MMIM Technologies Closes Venture Capital Financing
BlueRun Ventures and IDGVC invest in MMIM Technologies
December 14, 2005 Beijing - MMIM Technologies Ltd., a leading Chinese mobile multimedia IM and information service provider, today announced the successful completion of venture capital funding co-led by BlueRun Ventures and IDGVC. This brings the total investments in the company close to USD10 million. The funding will be used to accelerate the development and expansion of 'PICA', the service platform on which MMIM operates its multimedia IM and Information services. PICA has attracted over one million registered users since its soft launch in January 2005. The service is compatible with over 400 mobile phone models, and supports all major mobile operating systems. "MMIM has made tremendous progress since its formation late last year. We have seen increased awareness of PICA and the exponential growth of our subscribers." said Alex Liang, CEO of MMIM. "We believe the user experience and capabilities PICA brings will benefit all players in the ecosystem, including carriers, terminal manufacturers, service providers, content providers and end-users. We welcome BlueRun Ventures and IDGVC as our investment partners and appreciate their extensive experience in the wireless and consumer services areas in which MMIM targets" IDGVC is highly optimistic about the future of MMIM. "IDGVC believes PICA represents the future of mobile multimedia service," Lin Dongliang, General Partner of IDGVC said, "Backed up by over ten years of experience in investing in Chinese domestic companies, IDGVC is committed to providing MMIM with great localization support - providing far more than just fund investment. Our goal is to work with BlueRun Ventures and the management team to accelerate PICA's growth in China and the global market through our combined pool of extensive networks." Jui Tan, Partner of BlueRun Ventures, explained why MMIM had caught the eye of BlueRun Ventures. "BlueRun's investment thesis is always about finding the best of breed technologies & teams and helping them to become leading global players. We have done that successfully with companies such as PayPal in the US, Widerthan in Korea and believe MMIM has an exceptional team and world-class technology to make a significant impact in China and globally. We also think consumers will use their mobile phones more than just a traditional voice and SMS device, and the rapid user adoption of PICA has clearly validated our belief." About MMIM Technologies Ltd. MMIM Technologies Ltd. is a start-up company financed by top global venture capital funds. MMIM's focus is on the innovation of mobile Internet-based technologies and businesses. Operating with a multinational team of professionals with expertise in the fields of the Internet, the mobile services, and software development, MMIM is the world's leading researcher and developer in mobile multimedia communication and information services. MMIM was established in September, 2004 - and since 2005 it has been providing the commercialized mobile multimedia service "PICA" (Personalized Information and Communication Assistant). PICA is a service platform supporting various mobile terminals by integrating resources from traditional Internet and mobile data networks. PICA provides its consumer customers with personalized mobile multimedia communication and information services, and provides its corporate customers with mobile group communication and business application. Please visit www.mypica.com for more information and cellphone users can download Pica software from wap.mypica.com. About BlueRun Ventures Launched in 1998, BlueRun Ventures is a leading early stage venture capital fund. BlueRun Ventures' proven approach is to invest globally as a single fund in best of breed technologies and teams with the drive and ability to build leading global companies. BlueRun Ventures is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, with offices in Helsinki, Herzelia (Israel), London, New Delhi, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.brv.com. About IDGVC IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. (IDGVC) has the distinction of being the first American venture capital company to enter the Chinese market. In addition to providing venture capital, IDGVC offers an array of value-added services and in-depth support to entrepreneurs in China's high-tech industry. Founded in 1992 by International Data Group (IDG), a leading worldwide provider of information technology services, IDGVC was originally named Pacific Technology Venture Fund-China, Inc. (PTV-China). Investment activities focus on such industries as the Internet, information services, software, telecommunications, networking technology and biotechnology. To date, IDGVC has invested more than US $200 million in China's burgeoning entrepreneurial community. In October 1998, IDG signed a memorandum of cooperation with the State Science and Technology Commission of China (SSTC), the government agency that sets national policy for science and technology research and development. This document grants approval for IDGVC to invest up to US $1 billion in venture capital in China's high-tech corporations in the next seven years. One of IDGVC's greatest strengths is its close relationship with local entrepreneurs. It has a proven track record of finding and working with individuals capable of building world-class technology companies. IDGVC's venture capital operation is headquartered in Beijing, with branch offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Shenzhen in China and in Boston and San Jose, California, in the United States. For more information, visit www.idgvc.com. Media enquiries Charlotte Liu
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