Mobile social media platform Mig33 receives Rs 39 crore funding

Mig33 has 40 million registered users worldwide. Of that, 40 per cent are in South Asia (including India and Bangladesh).

Singapore based social networking and entertainment platform Mig33.com has raised US$8.9 million funding from Indonesian telecom entrepreneur Sugiono Wiyono Sugialam and Gree Inc., the Japan based company which runs a social networking site named Gree.jp.

This is the third time that Mig33.com has received funding. In 2007, it raised about US$10 million from Accel Partners and Redpoint Ventures. Mig33 again received US$13.5 million from DCM, Accel Partners and Redpoint in 2008.

For the uninitiated, Mig33 is a social media platform which was launched in 2005 in Australia and has recently shifted its head office to Singapore. It enables users to create virtual identities, add or create a network of friends, engage in mobile chat, play games, send virtual gifts and upload and share photos. Mig33 is available as a standalone mobile application (Java based), as a mobile site (M.Mig33.com) and on the online platform (Mig33.com).

The company has tie ups with various handset manufacturers such as Lemon Mobiles, Olive Telecom and Beetel Mobiles and mobile phone service providers such as Airtel, Aircel, Idea Cellular, BSNL and Videocon, through which it makes available its services - either as a mobile application or on the mobile site of operators - to consumers.

The social media company claims that it has more than 40 million registered users in the world. Of that, 40 per cent users belong to the South Asian region (including India and Bangladesh), while 45 per cent are related to Southeast Asian region, with Indonesia as the key market.

The platform offers basic services such as chat and photo sharing facilities for free, while it earns its revenue from paid services which include games, virtual avatars and gifts.

Speaking to afaqs!, Mohit Gundecha, head, India, Mig33, says, "We will use the fund to grow our presence across different mobile platforms - Mig33 will be offered on Microtek and Android based handsets." This implies that Mig33 will be made available on various low cost mobile handsets as well, apart from high-end GPRS enabled smart phones.

He adds, "We also plan to use the fund for Internet marketing to create awareness about the services."

The company also intends to launch its services in various local languages.