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Benchmark Capital Europe and Baytech Venture Capital inject $10 million Series B funding into spodradio. October 19, 2006 — spodradio, the first worldwide radio and podcast hub for mobiles, today announces $10 million of Series B funding from Benchmark Capital Europe, the top-tier venture capital firm behind eBay, Betfair and Bebo, together with Baytech Venture Capital. Baytech is a Munich-based VC firm which backed spodradio in Series A funding with $2.4 million in 2005. The funds will be used to accelerate spodradio’s expansion into international markets and help develop new services, establishing spodradio as the world’s leading provider of mobile radio applications. By intelligently organizing an ecosystem of content, radio providers, mobile operators and handset manufacturers, spodradio exploits the gadget consolidation trend. It enables the mobile phone to become the ultimate music device with a total radio experience anywhere and anytime, including live interactive radio, podcasts, personalized radio and on-demand radio services. spodradio, developed by Liquid Air Lab, won the ‘Best of Show’ award last month at the Podcast and Portable Media Expo in California and was awarded the German Multimedia Award (DMMA) for the ‘Best Mobile Application’ earlier this year. Mikko Linnamäki, CEO of spodradio, said: "We are thrilled that Benchmark, one of the top venture capital firms in the world, is joining Baytech as one of our investor partners. They have been the guys behind some of the best media and technology companies out there, and we are anxious to expand our footprint and offering with their support and with their network.” About Benchmark Capital EuropeBenchmark Capital is a leading international venture capital firm, committed to helping talented entrepreneurs build great companies which are ultimately focused on long-term growth. Managing US$4 billion in committed venture capital, Benchmark’s partners take an active, team-oriented, approach to venture investing. The firm was founded in the US (Silicon Valley) in 1995, the European office opened in London in 2000 and the Israeli office in 2001. Benchmark Capital Europe has three funds totalling $1.425 billion and has made over 50 investments across a variety of geographies and technology sectors. The European investments include companies such as Betfair (the world’s largest online betting exchange), Setanta (the leading pay-TV sports broadcaster), Bebo (the social networking site), Sulake and MySQL (the open-source database business). Other Benchmark investments include eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) and Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT). Visit the website at www.benchmark.com About BayTech Venture CapitalBayTech Venture Capital is a leading European Venture Capital firm with the ambition to help the best entrepreneurs build the most successful companies in their fields of expertise. They invest at an early stage in start-up companies in the sectors of Technology and Life Sciences in Western Europe, especially in Germany and France. Visit the website of BayTech at www.baytechventurecapital.de About Liquid Air Lab
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