参加时间：DEMO 2007
融资金额：$1,200万美元

Video ringtone sharing company Vringo (DEMO 2007) announced the closing of its Series B round of funding, with $12 million in a round led by private equity firm Warburg Pincus. The company said it will use the financing to fund its global expansion as it brings "new personalization and content services to mobile phone markets in the United States, Europe and Asia." The company also announced the election of George Allen, a principal at Warburg Pincus, to its board of directors.

Vringo gives users the ability to share video ringtones every time they make a phone call, integrating video clips, avatars, animations, greeting cards and photos whenever users make or receive phone calls. The company said its application, currently in beta, will soon be available on several mobile handsets, including devices by Nokia, Motorola, SonyEricsson and Samsung.

Product Name
Vringo

Market Segment
Consumer

Funding
Series A: Privately funded, $2.35 million.

Competitors
Video-sharing companies, such as ShoZu and Veeker, and video ring-back tone vendors, such as Comverse.

Product Description
Vringo is launching a video ringtone sharing community. Video ringtones (or “Vringos”) are played for friends each time a user calls them—the user decides which clip his or her buddies will see, and the user’s friends choose the clips the user will see. These Vringo clips are licensed content from the best movies, TV and music, or are user-generated and created from personal mobile phones. Vringo will make sharing viral videos as easy as calling friends.

Market Opportunity
According to visiongain, the total ringtone market at the end of 2006 was almost $5 billion worldwide. Continued growth is expected in this market, with video ringtones expected to grow from 5% of ringtone revenues in 2006 to almost 50% of the total ringtone market in 2011.

Demo Says
Admit it: You’ve more than once wondered what all the hubbub’s about with ringtones. Then you hear ringtones are a $5 billion global market and it’s clear: people, especially young ones, love their ringtones. So what comes next to keep that mega-market hopping? Vringo has developed a symmetrical video share that takes place during the call-handling process, delivering a 10-second video clip that accompanies your call. Your phone stores the clip for later viewing at a tiny footprint of 100 to 200k. The Vringo site is the main repository of content, so there are no bandwidth issues. Simple on the surface, sophisticated down below with 18 patents pending and endless possibilities for revenue down the road. What a great idea.