VCCircle

Kirusa, an Indian mobile value-added services provider, has raised $3 million in additional Series C funding. Qualcomm Ventures led the round, with Eastven Partners (the successor fund to Ericsson Venture Partners) and Erasmic Venture Fund also participating in the round. The company had earlier raised about $10 million from Helion Venture Partners and Nexus India Capital in original series C round. The current funding takes the total series C venture capital raised by Kirusa to $13.3 million.
Kirusa has developed a voice SMS application, which enables people to send SMS messages by speaking. Kirusa holds a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its Voice SMS technology. Kirusa's customers include Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular, MTNL, and BPL Mobile, in India; GrameenPhone and Warid Telecom in Bangladesh; Ufone, Warid Telecom, and China Mobile in Pakistan, and Globacom in Nigeria, amongst others.
Nagraj Kashyap, director, Qualcomm Ventures, said in a statement, "Voice SMS has a very strong value proposition that we believe will drive revenue growth for mobile carriers around the globe."
This is probably the first investment in India by Qualcomm Ventures, a fund launched in the United States in November 2000 with an initial $500 million allocation. The fund will support ventures fostering 3G and wireless Internet markets through strategic investments.