Vodafone buys Danish mobile startup for USD48.8m

Fri May 16 2008, 14:22 PM

Vodafone has agreed to acquire mobile startup Zyb for EUR31.5m (USD48.8m), says Dow Jones Newswire. The Copenhagen-based mobile back-up and phonebook services firm raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Nordic Venture Partners two years ago. It recently purchased Imity, a local startup that develops a location-based social network using Bluetooth.

Deal Details

Vodafone says the acquisition builds on its strategy of increasing its share of revenue from fixed broadband, mobile advertising and "a rich set of internet services that integrate the mobile and PC customer experience". Zyb will remain in Denmark and will be integrated into Vodafone's internet unit.

Zyb was founded in Aug 2005 by CEO Tommy Ahlers along with Ole Hojriis Kristensen and Morten Lund. It launched in beta mode in Jun 2006.