Mforma Gets $30 Million In Third-Round; Will Expand Beyond Cell Phone Entertainment

This gives the recent round executive musical chairs at Mforma Group a little perspective. The same week there was a shift at the top with founder Dan Kranzler moving to executive chairman while COO Jonathan Sacks stepping up as CEO, Mforma closed $30 million in third-round funding meant to push the company beyond mobile phone entertainment. According to VentureWire, the money also will be used for “more co-marketing initiatives with media companies and wireless carriers.”
New investor Institutional Venture Partners led the round with Bessemer Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and General Catalyst Partners as return investors. (Kranzler’s own eFund did not return; that may be because eFund focuses on seed funding.) Combined, Mforma now has raised $93 million — $44 million, first round; $19 million, second round, August 2004. As VentureWire points out, the second round had a potential value of $40 million but only $19 million was collected.
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