Motorola has invested an undisclosed sum in Voice over Internet Protocol
Asylum provides ISPs, resellers and corporate customers with communications
services, including VoIP, that integrate with PBX
GSM
The two-year-old firm, which partners with systems integrators and resellers,
has customers in 25 countries. It will use Motorola Venture’s cash to
continue develop product to increase communications convenience and reduce users’ costs.
John O’Donohue, a Motorola Ventures managing director, said the company is attracted to Asylum’s approach to VoIP.
“This investment will enable the company to explore opportunities that leverage the exploding Internet telephony and video markets and accelerate our overall seamless mobility vision,” O’Donohue said in a statement.
Asylum is a privately held and venture-backed company with headquarters in New York, research, development and operational support offices in Budapest, Hungary, and Cambridge, Mass.
O’Donohue said this is Motorola Ventures’ first investment in a firm with a significant presence in Hungary (one of many countries seeking to boost their software outsourcing) and he’s impressed with the engineering talent there.
In related Motorola news, the company is reportedly considering buying a stake in Siemens’ struggling wireless handset operations.
Several German publications published the news over the weekend and
industry-watchers will be watching Siemens’ quarterly results this week. Acer was also said to be interested, however it has denied the report.
A spokeswoman for Motorola, which is based outside of Chicago, was not
immediately available for comment.