Orative Dials Up $12M for Phone Apps

Weary business travelers tired of juggling several handheld devices and still playing phone tag may soon find relief in a new product that will be available later this year. Orative Corp., which develops collaboration software for cell phones, says its product may effectively end phone tag among its users. The San Jose-based company is scheduled to announce today that it raised $12 million in Series B funding.

New investor Trinity Ventures led the round. Trinity Ventures General Partner Fred Wang will join the company’s board of directors. Previous investors Diamondhead Ventures and Mayfield invested pro-rata in the Series B, which brings the company’s funding to $18 million to date. The round was oversubscribed. Orative set out to raise $10 million.

Paul Fulton, president and CEO of Orative, says that his company has had successful and repeated product trials with companies that include Cisco Systems and Proctor & Gamble. He says a principle advantage of his company is that it adapts to mobile phones instead of more rare and expensive devices. “Voice is still the killer app for most people,” he says.

While the company is not disclosing the valuation of the Series B, it says it was an up round. Orative plans to raise a Series C round but has not revealed its targeted time frame. Orative has a staff of 25 and plans to add between five and 10 new employees over the next 12 months.

The company plans to use its Series B funding for sales and marketing efforts and to help launch its product. Orative plans to begin shipping its product later this year and begin generating revenue in 2005. Its initial sales focus will be on North America.