14 DAY TRIAL // Swype, an innovative text input technology, announced today that it managed to secure $5.6 million in Series B financing for the further work on the integration of Swype technology in a wider range of mobile phones on the market. The company also announced that the financing was led by Nokia Growth Partners, Samsung Ventures, and returning investor Benaroya Capital, and that it also aims at bringing its solution to more touch and remote screen devices.
“The level of confidence shown by investors in our Series B, especially coming from two of the largest device manufacturers in the world and a returning investor, demonstrates the viability of our product and the known added value it can bring to mobile devices,” said Mike McSherry, CEO of Swype. “We’re thrilled with these strategic partners and look forward to launching Swype on a number of new devices and platforms.”
As many of you might already know, the first commercial product that came to the market with the company's intuitive and patented new technology, aimed at offering a faster way to input text on touchscreens, is the Samsung Omnia II. “We are excited about the significant potential associated with Swype’s innovative technology,” said Brian Kang, managing director at Samsung Ventures America. “We believe that Swype is playing a leadership role in the evolution of mobile user interfaces and is providing an exciting breakthrough technology that can be implemented in a variety of ways.”
Swype proves itself to be a technology much faster than other existing text entry methods mainly due to a built-in “intelligence” which allows users not to hit each of the letters accurately. Moreover, the solution has been designed so as to be compatible with a wide range of mobile phone operating systems, as well as with a wide range of devices, including phones, tablets, game consoles, kiosks, GPS devices and more.
“We are pleased to continue our support of the Swype team as they enter the consumer marketplace. The company continues to meet, and exceed, its milestones and is deploying a truly game changing technology,” stated John Carleton, managing director at Benaroya Capital. John Gardner, partner at Nokia Growth Partners, commented “UI technology is a key part of our view of the growing mobile market. We are delighted to participate in this round of funding for Swype, enabling them to bring their cutting-edge technology to more mobile and touch-screen devices.”