We mentioned this in November last year, but the exact details are out now form the company: This is among the biggest mobile content fundings in the last year, the others being MobiTV and Amp’d Mobile: Picsel Group, the Glasgow, Scotland-based mobile browser and content management and delivery platform provider, has received $46.5 million in third round of funding. The round was led by Capital International Private Equity Fund IV, and Doll Capital, NIF, SMBC Ventures Co., Ltd. and SBI Investment Co., Ltd. also participated in the round. In addition, Picsel received an investment from DoCoMo.com, Inc., a subsidiary wholly owned by NTT DoCoMo.
The majority of the new funding will be used to help finance Picsel’s global expansion, “invest in new strategic initiatives and reduce the balance of financial obligations”. The company raised about $16 million in two rounds starting 2001, and recently secured a large scale non-equity loan agreement with Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad (MDV), the finance arm of the Malaysian Government.
Picsel’s technology is shipping on 70 million devices worldwide, it said, and has more than 200 employees based in its European, Asian and U.S. offices. Customers include Palm, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic and Nokia.