Time For Some Wireless Email Consolidation
Roll ’em up. Wireless email software provider Visto, who provides wireless email products to AT&T Wireless and PalmSource, among others has just added another $20 million to the $30 million they raised last month. In this day and age it’s a bit of a shocker to see a startup bring in $50 million – especially in an area as unsettled as wireless email. What’s clear from the statements surrounding the investment is that the backers have decided that Visto is the horse they’re betting on, and they want to give it enough money to buy up plenty of other players in the market. This isn’t about direct land grab for customers, but about technology’s new trend towards “consolidation”. It will be interesting to see who they go after, and if there are going to be other big-money backed firms who also are going to be gunning to roll up the various wireless applications companies out there to build the new wireless powerhouses. I’m skeptical that the roll-up strategy is the right one in this case. The market is too unsettled. Consolidation makes more sense in mature markets – and this is anything but a mature market.
