Exclusive – Snaptu, the company that aims to bring a smartphone-like experience to regular handsets, hit an important milestone today: 10 million registered users.
Coincidentally, the announcement comes at a time when the startup is disclosing that it has secured $6 million in Series B funding in a round led by Carmel Ventures and joined by early backer Sequoia Capital.
As a result of the funding deal, Carmel partner Rina Shainski will join the Snaptu board.
Snaptu is in essence a mobile application company that targets users of regular phones rather than high-end handsets like the iPhone, DROID and Nexus One that get much more attention from the press but boast much smaller numbers in worldwide usage.
The startup’s service incorporates a suite of popular social networking, news, informational and sports applications, including Facebook, Twitter, Picasa and Flickr. The app, which can be downloaded by visiting m.snaptu.com, works on any data-capable phone that can run Java – some 2,500 different phone models according to the Israeli company.
In addition, the company has agreements with mobile operators around the world to ensure compatibility with their “app store for phones that don’t have their own app store”. Just two months ago, the startup struck a deal with AT&T to make sure that the mobile application works nicely with the carrier.
You can see it in action here:
Snaptu is a mobile application that makes Facebook, Picasa, Live score, Movie reviews, Pub reviews, RSS reader, Journey planner accessible in a single application. The snaptu application browser allows phones to update to an iPhone-like user experience.
Carmel is among Israel’s top tier of venture capital firms. They invest primarily in early stage companies in the fields of software, communications, semiconductors, internet, media, and consumer electronics.
Sequoia Capital is a venture capital firm founded by Don Valentine in 1972. The Wall Street Journal has called Sequoia Capital “one of the highest-caliber venture firms” and noted that it is “one of Silicon Valley’s most influential venture-capital firms”. It invests between $100,000 and $1 million in seed stage, between $1 million and $10 million in early stage, and between $10 million and $100 million in growth stage. The firm has offices in the U.S., China, India and...
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