LightPole has introduced an end-to-end publishing system for location-specific mobile use. It also announced completion of its Series A round of financing, led by Alloy Ventures. The capital influx will be used primarily for business development and product marketing efforts.

 

“The next great revolution in communication will take place on the screens of mobile phones,” said Doug Klein, CEO at LightPole, in a statement. “The emergence of smart devices, true Web 2.0 services and a suitable network infrastructure has allowed LightPole to be at the forefront of an economic disruption in mobile much like what happened with the Web years ago. LightPole's end-to-end publishing system makes it easy for everyone - from content publishers to mobile phone users themselves - to participate.”

 

Alloy Ventures invests in young enterprises and new ideas each year. This year LightPole was chosen because of the diligence and professionalism the company displayed

The focus of LightPole is allowing publishers to easily broaden their existing content to reach out to newer markets. It facilities the building of new communities and supplies mobile phone users with never-before-seen access to plethora of information in real-time.

 

The service offered by LightPole offers a choice of modes: subscriptions, transactions and advertising. There is no need for expensive IT equipment or particular programming, making the solution accessible to everyone.

 

LightPole has completed deals with eight content publishers, as outlined below.

 

Yahoo! – Yahoo! Local content is available to mobile device users through a channel provided at account set-up; LightPole is planning to be a leading developer of Yahoo!'s (News - Alert) Fire Eagle, a service that allows anyone to share their location with sites and services online.

 

Yelp! – This is a site where people write reviews about local businesses. Local information can be integrated by customers having to simply text GETYELP to 41411 or going to get.lightpole.net/yelp.

 

Platial – A free online mapping resource where millions of people around the world share and discover all kinds of places now enables mobility of its user maps through LightPole.

 

MappyHour – A downloadable application provides access to this interactive bar guide.

 

HotSpotr – An online service that identifies laptop-friendly locations with free WiFi, now with content-sharing capablities.

 

Heyday Books - A nonprofit organization that specializes in books and other educational projects that relate to the history, literature, art, environment, social issues, and culture of California and the West

 

Bathroom Diaries – A database of restroom locations that now enables mobility of its content through LightPole.

 

Zvents – People looking for something to do can now do so using this search engine from their phones.

 

The number of third-party LightPole solutions is expected to increase greatly soon.

LightPole can be used on many handset models, including Blackberry, Motorola, Nokia, and most phones from leading carries such as AT&T, Sprint/Nextel and T-Mobile (News - Alert) as well as the Blackberry on Verizon. LightPole continues to add support for new phones all the time.

 

LightPole's goal is to make it easy for content owners to distribute location-specific information to mobile devices. Founded in January 2007, LightPole is headquartered in San Francisco and has a development center in China.