Aussie mobile 'social networking' developer bluepulse scores $US6m US funding

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 29 August 2007 06:34

Your IT - Home IT

Bluepulse, an mobile messaging company started by a 21 year old Australian entrepreneur in Sydney in 2002 has launched operations in the US with $US6m of venture funding from VantagePoint Venture Partners.

Founder and CEO Ben Keighran, claimed that "bluepulse has built a unique platform that enables friends, co-workers, acquaintances and family members to stay connected, share content and access widgets with their most personal device – the mobile phone."

He added: "As mobile social networking becomes even more integral to mobile users' daily routines, we look forward to continuing to make bluepulse the mobile social networking hub. Over the next several months we will introduce exciting new functionality that empowers people to do even more on their handsets via bluepulse."

Bluepulse claims to enable users to communicate and meet new people through one-to-one and broadcast messaging, profiles, picture and video sharing, chat and a wide range of mobile widgets.

The bluepulse application can be downloaded from to any phone with Internet access from bluepule.com. Users can then, according to bluepulse, "immediately build their profile, invite friends to join, make new friends, message and share media with other bluepulse users."

Bluepulse says its software will run on any phone that supports Java MIDP 1.0 or MIDP 2.0 and any version of Symbian. However it will not run on Windows CE smartphones, some Blackberries, any BREW handset and most importantly - because bluepulse sees the US as a key market - any phone on the Verizon network, which accounts for about 25 percent of US cellular subscribers.