Mozat, the mobile social networking platform formerly known as Morange, is making strides in Asia and the Middle East. The eponymous company behind the app has just announced that it has surpassed 10 million registered users, predominantly based in those regions.
The startup has also disclosed that it raised a Series A funding round led by JAFCO Asia earlier this year, although it didn’t disclose the size of the investment.
Mozat is in the mobile social networking business, and markets free J2ME and Symbian clients, a Windows Mobile and an Android app. The company currently doesn’t offer custom apps for iPhone, BlackBerry or Palm WebOS devices (yet), but we should note Mozat targets consumers in regions where those are not nearly as popular as in most Western countries.
Mozat is similar to apps like eBuddy and Nimbuzz, as it enables users to connect and communicate with friends on MSN, YAHOO, ICQ and AOL using a single application. It also boasts other tools like email, chat, photo sharing apps and games, which it distributes through a custom ‘Application Center’ which functions much like Apple’s App Store or the Android Market.
Mozat’s main objective for 2010 is to sign up more mobile operators and ISPs in Asia and the Middle East in order to increase their foothold as the carriers in those regions prepare to roll out more powerful networks in the near future.
Mozat was founded in Singapore back in 2003 by a group of Ph.D. scholars and professors of the National University of Singapore.