LAS VEGAS, April 2, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- CTIA WIRELESS -- Vlingo
Corporation today announced that it has secured $20 million in Series B
financing. Led by Yahoo! Inc., the round also included existing investors
Charles River Ventures and Sigma Partners. Vlingo will use the capital to
fuel international expansion and continue its product research and
development. As part of the investment, a Yahoo! nominee will join vlingo's
board of directors.
Leveraging this relationship, Yahoo! today announced the launch of a
voice-enabled version of Yahoo! oneSearch(TM), a revolutionary new mobile
search client that supports unstructured, open-ended voice searches that
allows the consumer to speak their query as they would type it into the
search box. (See separate announcement, "Vlingo Provides Voice Recognition
for Yahoo!'s oneSearch Mobile Search Service".)
"Yahoo! is a pioneer in mobile services and continues to revolutionize
the mobile Internet experience. We launched Yahoo! oneSearch globally in
2007 and defined the standard of excellence for mobile search services,"
said Steve Boom, senior vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo!, Inc. "By
integrating vlingo's innovative speech recognition technology into Yahoo!
oneSearch, we're taking mobile search to the next level and enabling
consumers to get the answers they want by simply speaking into their mobile
phone."
Vlingo launched a beta version of its voice-powered interface in August
2007 and was subsequently named one of IDC's "Ten Emerging Mobile Players
to Watch in 2008." Its first beta application, vlingo find, enabled users
to look up any local establishment with the power of their voices while
on-the-go without having to use constrained language choices.
"We have been thrilled by the market interest in vlingo since our beta
launch last year, providing true confirmation of the revolutionary
technology we have developed," said Dave Grannan, vlingo's president and
CEO. "We have aggressive expansion plans over the next year that will take
vlingo overseas and across a broad range of mobile phones here in the U.S.
We're eager to leverage Yahoo!'s expertise and reach as we execute against
this strategy."
"Having a strategic investor of Yahoo!'s stature in the industry is a
great validation of what has been built at vlingo," said Izhar Armony, a
general partner, at Charles River Ventures, which led the Series A
investment. "We look forward to having Yahoo! as an investor to help us
grow this business."
Vlingo and Yahoo! will be exhibiting the new voice enabled Yahoo!
oneSearch service at their respective booths -- vlingo #4105 in the North
Hall, and Yahoo! #1019 in the Central Hall.
About vlingo
Vlingo is a voice-powered user interface that unlocks access to mobile
phone wireless data services. Vlingo allows users to speak or type into any
vlingo-enabled text box and get accurate, easy and consistent access to all
the information, entertainment and communication made possible through
today's mobile applications. By giving consumers control of the mobile
Internet with the power of their voices, vlingo provides a quantum leap in
usability for mobile data services that are currently restricted by limited
user interfaces. IDC has named vlingo one of the "Ten Emerging Mobile
Players to Watch in 2008." The company secured its venture capital
financing from Charles River Ventures, Sigma Partners and Yahoo! Inc.
Founded in 2006, vlingo is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Why
tap when you can talk? http://www.vlingo.com.
Yahoo!, Yahoo! oneSearch, and the Yahoo! logo are trademarks and/or
registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or
registered trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE vlingo
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