Marquee investors bring unparalleled technology and wireless expertise
Los Angeles, Calif. (CTIA Booth #609) – Sept. 12, 2006 - Handango, the world’s leading provider of smartphone content, today announced it raised over $60 million to aggressively extend its leadership position in the fast-growing smartphone content market. With these funds, the company plans to intensify its investment in the consumer experience, transforming its business from the largest smartphone content aggregator to the world’s premier smartphone content retailer, both online and directly from the device. Additionally, Handango’s growth initiatives include global expansion, support for new types of content, and strategic acquisitions.
The funding was led by a collection of the most successful and prestigious venture capital firms, including Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Advanced Technology Ventures (ATV), Neo Carta, Pharos, SSM Partners and Centerpoint. These investors, combined with Handango’s initial investors, manage more than $6 billion in capital. As part of the investment, Handango has appointed two new members to its board of directors: technology financier, Sandy Miller from IVP and the former head of Lucent’s Wireless Business, Bill Wiberg from ATV.
By leveraging 16,000 content partners across more than 500 distribution channels – the largest collection of partners in the mobile content industry -- Handango seamlessly delivers the entire smartphone marketplace into millions of customers' hands, both on the web and on the device. Handango is trusted by a portfolio of notable strategic partners that includes Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, RIM, HP, Microsoft, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and AOL, all of whom rely on Handango as an essential part of their smartphone content business.
Last year, there were 68 million smartphone users, which will grow to more than 350 million users by 2009, according to Strategy Analytics.
"According to our data, Handango is a leader in providing content to smartphone owners," said Seamus McAteer, senior analyst, M:Metrics. "In July 2006 M:Metrics found that about 12.8 million subscribers in the US, UK, Germany, France and Spain use a smartphones as their primary mobile handset. The importance of this segment is underscored by the fact that smartphone owners were between two and four times more likely to consume downloaded content compared with the market average."
The company is led by a world-class team that has helped Handango AMPP, the company’s flagship content management and delivery platform, become the most widely-deployed smartphone content distribution solution in the world. Mobile operators, handset manufacturers, and portals use Handango AMPP and its on-device client, InHand, to differentiate their smart device offerings, drive additional revenue and increase customer loyalty. For content providers, Handango InHand provides an unprecedented opportunity to get their content featured directly on the devices.
“The stars have truly aligned for Handango to create the category killer in smartphone content,” said Randy Eisenman, CEO of Handango. “We have an outstanding team, a vast network of strategic partners, and the industry’s strongest brand. These valuable assets combined with our strong balance sheet are in place at a time when the smartphone market is experiencing explosive growth. Our employees, partners and investors are ready to execute on this tremendous opportunity.
“Rarely have I seen a company as well positioned as Handango to completely own a market,” said Sandy Miller, general partner from IVP. “Handango’s position in the smartphone ecosystem allows the company to capitalize on opportunities in ways that no other company can.”
“As the smartphone industry moves from early adopter to mainstream, we see a significant opportunity for Handango to delight millions of smartphone consumers globally,” said Bill Wiberg, general partner of ATV. “With the broadest collection of smartphone content, its vast distribution network, and the leading consumer brand, Handango is at the epicenter the smartphone revolution.
About Handango
Handango is the leading provider of smartphone content globally. Leveraging its network of over 16,000 content partners and its vast distribution network, Handango seamlessly delivers the smartphone marketplace to millions of consumers on the web and from the device. Handango’s market-leading content delivery platform, AMPP, is the platform of choice for numerous mobile industry leaders including Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, RIM, HP, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Microsoft, and AOL. Due to its intense focus on delivering an intuitive and compelling consumer experience, Handango has become synonymous with the smartphone content market. For more information, visit http://corp.handango.com.
Press Contacts:
Jennifer Abelson
Abelson Group for Handango
917-445-4454
jennifer@abelsongroup.com
Liz Erk
Abelson Group for Handango
617-285-9595
liz@abelsongroup.com