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Got Funds? SMS GupShup, Image Space Media and Inuvo

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Jan 20, 2010 

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Gavin Dunaway  |

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Got Funds? SMS GupShup, Image Space Media and Inuvo

ADOTAS – In India — where the use of personal computers and the Internet is minuscule compared to the U.S., but cell phones are still rampant — the most popular form of digital social networking is via text message. The country’s largest social network, SMS GupShup (which means “chitchat” in Hindi), just secured $12 million in Series D funding.

The top investor was Globespan Capital Partners, whose managing director, Venky Ganasan, will join the SMS GupShup board of directors. Existing investors Charles River Ventures and Helion Venture Partners also contributed to this round of funding. Since its launch in April 2007, SMS GupShup has raised more than $37 million in funding.

The network boasts 26 million users in more than 2 million SMS communities, which has doubled in the last six months ago). The service accounts for 5% of all text messages sent in India. More than 100 advertisers currently run on the network, including international brands like Puma and Microsoft. In addition, SMS GupShup recently partnered with Facebook to allow Indian users to go mobile.

Also in funding news, Image Space Media, which provides online in-image advertising, raked in $2.9 million in first round financing. The investing was led by New Atlantic Ventures and Michael Gordon, cofounder and chief strategy officer of Limelight Networks, will take a seat on the board of directors. Image Space serves ads on the lower fourth of 7.4 million images per month and boasts 32 million unique visitors.

Finally, Inuvo, which employs predictive modeling in performance marketing, has raised $4.2 million through an over-subscribed stock offering that it plans to re-invest in its affiliate and search marketing platforms.

Tags: funding, image space media, inuvo, sms gupshup, social-networking and venture-capital

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