Double Fusion

LocationJerusalem, Israel

URLwww.doublefusion.com

Founded 2004

CEO Elie Wurtman         

Employees 27

Funding $10 million, 1 round

Key Investors JVP Studios, Accel Partners, Jerusalem Venture Partners

Double Fusion isn’t the first company to focus on the video game advertising market, which is expected to reach $1 billion by 2010, according to the Yankee Group. But the company says it has the most advanced technology and is unique in its use of flash animation and 3D objects. Unlike competitors like Massive that concentrate on billboard-style 2D ads, Double Fusion also uses 3D objects. The company recently embedded a Procter & Gamble-branded cleaning product into a taxi-driving game. But analysts say over-intrusive ads could irritate the gamer, and the company needs to sign up more large brands to compete effectively.

Echovox

LocationGeneva, Switzerland

URLwww.echovox.com

Founded 2000

CEO David Marcus

Employees 47

Funding $5 million, 1 round

Key Investors Newbury Ventures

The wireless industry is touting the cell phone as the “third screen” in consumers’ lives after the PC and TV. Brands are looking to get a piece of this new mobile real estate, and are tapping wireless startups to help them get there. Echovox helps brands launch content on cell phone screens, including audio and video streaming, and text and picture messaging. The company’s largest customers are French TV channel M6 and wireless operator Orange. Overall, the company says it connects to 60 carriers serving almost 1 billion subscribers. But Echovox will have trouble breaking into the U.S. market, where startups like Motricity hold sway.

IceMobile

LocationAmsterdam, The Netherlands

URLwww.icemobile.com

Founded 2001

CEO Ralph Cohen

Employees 25

Funding N/A

Key Investors Self-funded

The wireless industry has coined 2006 the year of mobile TV. Whether consumers will start watching sitcoms on their cell phones is a different matter. But IceMobile has already made significant headway in the mobile TV market, and has published video content on the portals of 30 European mobile operators. The company is now trying to differentiate itself with “video calls,” which could enable viewers to participate in a TV show via a live video conference call. IceMobile is now looking to jump across the Atlantic, but faces global competition from other innovative mobile video startups like Tapuz Mobile.

I-Cue

LocationLondon, U.K.

URLwww.i-cue.co.uk

Founded 2005

CEO Marc Lewis

Employees 4

Funding $100,000, 1 round

Key Investors Benchmark Capital

I-Cue describes itself as the intersection between Amazon and Apple’s iPod. The company’s plan to deliver written content to mobile handsets might have garnered just a fraction of the funding of other wireless startups, but it’s trying to take on Amazon, Sony Libre, and Audible. I-Cue says it has created a new way to display written content on mobile devices—either one word at a time or an auto queue format. Already the company says it has signed up 80 percent of U.K. publishers and counts McMillan and Harper Collins as customers. Benchmark could be looking at a quick flip, rather than long-term growth.

Mobile Media

LocationOslo, Norway

URLwww.mobilemedia.com

Founded 1993

CEO Svein Sivertsen (acting)

Employees 150

Funding N/A

Key Investors Telenor Venture

Mobile Media delivers branded entertainment to over 500 million subscribers worldwide via partnerships with major broadcast networks and channels around the globe. In addition to mobile entertainment, the company provides operators, consumer brands, and media companies with marketing services. Current partners include Sprint, Vodafone, Sony, the BBC, and Universal Music Group. The company snapped up Rubberduck Media Lab last year in an effort to improve its position in the market, giving it the ability to offer video streaming to 2.5G and 3G handsets, and will need to continue to work hard to survive in a worldwide market rife with competitors looking for a piece of the mobile video pie.

Mobix Interactive

LocationLondon, U.K.

URLwww.mobixinteractive.com

Founded 2001

CEO Matt Heiman

Employees 36

Funding N/A

Key Investors Robert Gilham, Matt Heiman, Patrick Folkes, Charles Nassar

Mobix Interactive creates, edits, and distributes video content to wireless companies and mobile subscribers around the world. The company is hoping to make inroads overseas, both in Asia and stateside thanks to a recently opened U.S. office. Using its own production facilities, Mobix creates content and imports material for editing, in addition to content from partners like Reuters, CNBC Europe, and ESPN. In addition to news, music, sports, and other programming, Mobix says it is also investigating distributing user-generated content. Competitors include MobiTV in the United States and Italy’s Buongiorno Vitaminic, and while market consolidation is expected, industry observers say Mobix is a player to watch.

Sulake

LocationHelsinki, Finland

URLwww.sulake.com

Founded 2000

CEO Timo Soininen

Employees 255

Funding $30 million,3 rounds

Key Investors Elisa, Taivas, 3i, Benchmark Capital

Perhaps it’s no surprise that Habbo Hotel, a virtual hangout place for teenagers with more than 6 million unique visitors per month, started in notoriously shy Finland. The company’s first chat room with avatars opened in 2000. Since then, Sulake has rolled out online youth communities in 17 different countries. The company’s business plan is far from straightforward: Sulake makes money by selling hotel credits that people redeem to decorate their virtual rooms. Sulake’s revenue more than doubled last year to over $30 million, but the company reported its first profitable quarter at the end of last year.