Acision raises $100M for mobile-data services

Access Industries pours millions into the UK-based mobile messaging and SMS company

The mobile market is growing by leaps and bounds. More then 100 billion text messages were sent during 2009, in the UK alone. That is roughly, 1700 texts per person. And, not all of those are about where you want to meet up for dinner, or how boring class is. The global, mobile-banking services are expected, to be generating about 90 billion text messages every year, by 2015, in the name of customer service, according to Juniper Research.

That growth is something that can be capitalized on, and one company just got a fairly hefty investment to keep doing just that.

UK-based Acision announced Tuesday that it's raised $100 million, in a round led by Access Industries, which was an existing investor in the company. Other investors include International Investment and Underwriting and Atlantic Bridge.

For those of you who are not familiar with Acision, it is a mobile-communications-network-infrastructure company. It focuses on areas such as mobile messaging, and charging systems for technology data technologies. Those areas include tools such as,  SMS, MMS, mobile Internet browsing, mobile broadband and voicemail. The company claims to be, the number one player in messaging globally, with a 35% market share.

And, that's just today's market. The market for mobile-data services is expected to explode. 

By 2015, data usage in North America is expected to increase dramatically, with a compound annual growth rate of 55%. In Western Europe, that number is expected to be a more modest 42%, according to a study by ABI Research. The same study also showed that North Americans are expected to use 159 megabytes of data in 2010. This represents a significant increase from the 2009 number of 100 megabytes, in 2009.

The company says that it will use the additional funding to, 'underpin its growth strategy and build on its position in the mobile data market, while continuing to provide innovative solutions which enable mobile operators to control, optimise and monetise mobile data traffic.", according to the release. The company also identified areas of growth, such as, investing in technologies that would work with devices like Apple's iPad, in an interview with Money Control. 

“Leading research forecasts that global mobile data traffic is set to increase 39 times between 2009 and 2014 . This new backing ensures Acision is positioned to service this growth market by delivering cutting-edge next-generation mobile data solutions to mobile operators,”said Rory Buckley, Chief Executive at Acision, in the release.

Acision was not available for immediate comment.

(Image courtesy of Acision website)