Verve Wireless Secures $7M in Funding Led by BlueRun Ventures

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Verve Wireless Inc., the leading provider of premium mobile publishing and advertising technologies to local media companies, announced today it has closed a $7 million round of financing led by BlueRun Ventures.  Previous investor, The Associated Press, along with others participated in the round. The capital will be used to further develop and expand Verve's products and services, including the largest premium local advertising network and publisher platform.

Verve offers local publishers industry-leading technology to distribute and manage news and targeted advertising across all mobile platforms, from iPhone to Android.  Its versatile platform and tools are used by more than 750 leading media companies worldwide.

"Verve Wireless has built advertising and technology solutions to enable local media to compete aggressively in the world's fastest growing technology sector," said Jonathan Ebinger, Partner at BlueRun Ventures. "Its full-service solutions allow publishers to adapt and profit from the rapid changes in the media landscape caused by the explosive growth in mobile media consumption. We believe Verve's present success is a testament to its continued growth trajectory."

Verve Connect™ – The Largest Premium Local Ad Network

McClatchy, Belo Interactive, The Associated Press are among the 750 customers that rely on Verve for their local mobile advertising solutions. Verve provides local publishers tools to build mobile distribution points for their news and information, including applications and mobile web technologies. Verve then delivers targeted local advertising via its local publisher network. Based on its adoption rate and customer interest, Verve believes that the mobile platform will become the dominant advertising and news channel for local media. Consider the following:

• More than 14 million readers accessed news from mobile devices via Verve's mobile publishing platform in July, a 151 percent increase over the prior year period.
• At the same time, Verve served 150 million mobile news pages in July, a 105 percent increase year over year.  
• To date seven million of Verve's mobile news apps have been downloaded to devices like the iPhone®, iPad®, Blackberry®, Nokia, and Windows smart phones.
• Verve has flighted over a billion mobile ads across its network of premium publishers.

"We are pleased to partner with BlueRun," said Tom Kenney, President of Verve Wireless. "Because of their strong roots in the mobile industry, we feel like they really understand the potential of Verve, but also appreciate the groundwork we've laid in securing such a deep presence within the local publishing industry. As mobile phone adoption continues to proliferate world-wide, Verve is positioned to see exceptional increases in mobile advertising revenue."

Verve's partners include many of the world's leading media organizations such as The Associated Press, McClatchy Interactive, MediaNews Group, A.H. Belo Corporation, Hearst Corporation, Philly.com, Belo Corporation, and Advance.net. Additionally, it is partnered with many of the world's leading mobile device manufacturers, including Apple and Nokia, as well as the world's leading carriers including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and Sprint.  

For more information about Verve Wireless or its products visit www.vervewireless.com.  

About BlueRun Ventures

BlueRun Ventures is a leading early stage venture capital firm focused on Internet, Mobile and Media opportunities. BlueRun works closely with entrepreneurs to build market-changing companies such as PayPal (EBAY), WiderThan (REAL) and Enpocket (NOK). With offices in Menlo Park, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Helsinki and Mumbai, BlueRun brings distributed insight to each market and opportunity to help young companies navigate dynamic markets. For more information, www.brv.com.

About The Associated Press

The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP.  For more information visit www.ap.org.

About Verve Wireless

Based in Encinitas, CA; Verve Wireless, Inc. manages the largest mobile ad network of premium local content, and along with their proprietary Verve Gateway(TM), allows local media companies and advertisers to seamlessly extend their reach into mobile devices across all the major carriers and mobile distribution channels. Verve Wireless currently works with over 750 leading media companies from the US, Canada, Europe, and Middle East including dailies, radio, local broadcast stations, and online properties. For more information visit www.vervewireless.com.

SOURCE Verve Wireless Inc.