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Local Wireless Incubator Opens Virtual Doors
By @NY Staff
Four local investment groups have joined forces with Omnipoint co-founder Mark Caron this week to launch MobileSpring, an incubator firm focusing on applications, services, and content for wireless devices and networks.
The undisclosed investment round was led by i-Hatch Ventures and joined by Primedia Ventures, Adam Dell's Impact Venture Partners, and IT merger and acquisition specialist Broadview Associates as well as Virginia-based Venturehouse Group. Financial terms were not announced.
The idea behind MobileSpring is to quickly build and roll out wireless applications then spin out companies based around these applications often in joint ventures with established companies in the United States and overseas. Although MobileSpring has not announced any detail about it partners in those planned projects the strategy seems clear. Like other nascent wireless applications players in Silicon Alley, the first battle is distribution over the handful of major wireless networks.
Although companies are loath to lock themselves into exclusive relationships with cellular carriers, they know that distribution deals of that type are crucial to their development. So look for MobileSpring to make deals with the likes of Caron's old company, Omnipoint, and other cellular carriers. In addition, in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, penetration of wireless devices, both cellphones and other types, is significantly more advanced than in the United States. So expect MobileSpring to strike deals with European carriers as well.
"Our goal is to deploy services that fundamentally change how people that are mobile get work done, make transactions, and interact with one another. This requires the services to be available across multiple wireless networks and be optimized for various wireless devices," Caron said. "It also requires an intense focus on the human behavior issues. We will draw on our many years of real-world experience with wireless Internet services to make sure we exceed users' expectations."
The company is already working on building out its European connection naming to its board of advisors Anders Brandt, CEO of made4net, the largest Internet incubator in Norway.
"It goes without saying that the wireless web is poised for tremendous growth, and we couldn't have found a better team to work with," said i-Hatch general partner and co-founder Chip Austin. "These are the people that have been building the bandwagon that everyone else is now jumping on."
March 23, 2000
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