Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Castile Ventures invests $12.5M in wireless

By Mass High Tech Staff

Waltham venture capital firm Castile Ventures has put $12.5 million into California-based mobile application server developer Funambol Inc. The round, which is Funambol’s second, was led by the California office of Finnish venture firm Nexit Ventures and included return investors Walden International and HIG Ventures.

As part of the deal, Castile general partner Carl Stjernfeldt will join the company’s board as an observer, while Nexit partner Michel Wendell will join as a director.

The funding brings Funambol’s total funding to $25 million. The company will use the proceeds to continue its penetration into the email market, advance product development and accelerate global expansion, particularly in Europe and Asia, according to a company statement.

Funambol hopes to target the mobile e-mail market, where the high costs of smart phones and data plans have held back the proliferation of email applications through cell phones, according to a company statement. The company uses an open-source platform and ad-funded push email to help companies deliver new wireless services to mass market users.