Private mobile companies raised $1.3 billion in July in 109 funding deals, according to the latest report from Rutberg and Co.
The July total was below June's whopping $2.3 billion mobile venture capital haul. That month's total was bloated with a massive $1.2 billion round for taxi app Uber. In comparison, during May 2014, private companies in mobile raised $826 million in 107 venture capital deals.
Here for the top five earners for July:
Table 1: Top 5 Funded Mobile Startups in July
Company | Location | Funding Amount | Developing | Backers |
Meizu | Zhuhai, China | $324M | Android-based smartphones | Undisclosed |
Kabam | San Francisco | $120M | Mobile games | Alibaba |
BlaBlaCar | Paris, France | $100M | A long distance ride-sharing app | Index Ventures; Accel Partners, ISAI, Lead Edge Capital |
NextNav | Sunnyvale, Calif. | $70M | Indoor and urban location services | New Enterprise Associates, Oak Investment Partners; Columbia Capital, Goldman Sachs, Telcom Ventures |
Gumi | Tokyo, Japan | $50M | Mobile social games | World Innovation Lab; B Dash Ventures, DBJ Capital, GREE, JAFCO, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Sega Networks, Shinsei Business Investment |
Source: Rutberg & Co. |
The Chinese were well represented in Rutberg & Co. 's July list. Meizu, with $324 million from undisclosed backers, is an Android smartphone developer in close rivalry with the Xiaomi smartphones that are popular domestically.
Massive social network Alibaba, meanwhile, is funding US game developer Kabam.
Mobile ride-sharing and taxi applications are also still hot. Alongside $100 million for BlaBlaCar, Berlin's EasyTaxi grabbed $40 million in funding, and Olacabs out of Bangalore, India, pulled in $41.5 million for its taxi app.
Follow more of the money below:
- Uber Drives June Mobile VC to $2.3B
- Uber Drives Mobile App Bubble With $1.2B VC Round
- Lyft Drives Mobile VC Funding to $1.4B in April
- Mobile VC Tops $1B in March Madness
- It Takes $280M to Tango
- Mobile VC Pulls in $592.9M in February
— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading