Israeli start-up Yallo, which enhances the mobile phone call experience, has closed $4 million in Series A funding. The investment was led by Carmel Ventures, a member of the Viola Group. Carmel Ventures co-founder and general partner Shlomo Dovrat has joined Yallo's board of directors.
Yallo is a B2C communications provider that makes mobile phone conversations more effective, more social, and more fun. By putting personal customer identity, rich functional capabilities and technological flexibility at the core of its platform, the company is creating the next generation of communication experiences and spearheading a new era of consumer focused innovation.
The company was founded in 2012 by CEO Tal Elyashiv and CTO Yosi Taguri and has 15 employees at its headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Elyashiv said, “Having spent over two years building out the infrastructure and capabilities enabling our product roadmap and long-term vision, as well as some promising initial test releases, we’re thrilled to join forces with one of Israel’s premier VCs as we take our next steps forward. We believe the world is ready for a new category of communication experiences that is rich, personal and adaptive to the changing ways in which we live, work and play.”
Dovrat said, "Carmel is one of the earliest investors in the mobile technologies space in Israel, and has been investing in this sector since 2000. We are excited to partner with the Yallo team on their journey as they aim to transform the communications experience, bringing new innovative consumer applications to an industry poised for disruption."
Taguri said, “Before Yallo, the phone call was a vestige of the past, failing to keep up with the way we communicate today: in groups; with messaging that lets us get someone’s attention even when they’re busy; with precision; with fun and personalization. Yallo makes all that possible. It is turning the phone call into a platform for entertainment, personalization, organization, storage, and a tool for radical efficiency."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 10, 2015
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