Bangalore: mGinger, a Bangalore-based start-up in mobile advertising, has secured $2 million in funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and NEA-IndoUS Ventures. The company will use proceeds of the financing to significantly grow its business, build up their technology stack and ramp up their marketing and sales.

mGinger enables advertisements including offers, vouchers, news and more, sent in the form of SMS on consumers' mobile phones, providing advertisers with permission-based, targeted marketing. These advertisements are specific to consumer interests and demographics mentioned during sign-up (www.mginger.com) and received only in the timings that consumers specify. An additional value-add for consumers, is the earning potential of receiving these advertisements, which is redeemed through a gift cheque from mGinger.

"We at mGinger believe that there is much more to mobile phones than receiving advertisements through text messages," said Chaitanya Nallan, CEO, Gingersoft Media. "With this funding, we look forward to bringing a lot more innovative services to mobile users in the near future and opening up this potentially huge market in India. We are delighted to have investors like DFJ and NEA partner with us in this venture," he added.

"We are ecstatic about not only what mGinger has accomplished but what the prospects are," said Mohanjit Jolly, Executive Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson. "The ubiquitous presence of the mobile phone in India and the SMS usage makes this a highly promising market and serves as a potential 'holy grail' for consumers as well as advertisers," he added.

"The huge market potential, the effectiveness of this new medium of advertising and the uniqueness of mGinger's offering makes this a very attractive investment for us. The mGinger platform solves critical problems like content composition, cost of campaign and return on investment measurability for advertisers," said Sateesh Andra, Venture Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson. "Besides, mGinger also has a brilliant leadership team which has taken the company well ahead of the others in this space," he stated.