Vancouver's Mojio raises $8 million in Series A funding

Mojio, the leading open platform for connecting cars, today announced it has closed an $8 million Series A funding round led by Telekom Capital, the investment arm of Deutsche Telekom. Funds will support the company’s US and international growth as part of Mojio’s vision to build the world’s most comprehensive app marketplace for cars. Also participating in the round are notable investors Relay Ventures, BDC, and AOL co-founder, Steve Case.

Since its launch late last year, Mojio has attracted customer and media attention for its ability to deliver unparalleled insights on what’s happening under the hood and behind the wheel. As part of the leading apps development platform for cars, Mojio’s plug and play cellular device quickly and easily connects nearly any car and its data to the Internet and a growing marketplace of apps and services. Drivers can connect their existing cars and personalize a safer, smarter, more seamless connected driving experience.

“At Mojio we strive to deliver a continuous and ever-expanding relationship with our customers. Fundamentally, that is completely missing in today’s car ownership experience and is no surprise when nearly every car on the road is severed from the Internet,” said Jay Giraud, CEO of Mojio. “With the strong support of Telekom Capital, we can now bring our vision for the Internet of Cars to drivers around the world.”

Telekom Capital, through T-Venture, has been investing in venture capital since 1997. Mojio is the first investment of its recently launched EUR 500 million global fund. “This investment is the first outside of Europe for our latest fund. It fits right at the heart of what we are looking for: a scalable open platform addressing a gigantic market. We look forward to supporting Mojio in every possible way,” said Vicente Vento, CEO of Telekom Capital.

“We have done a large amount of research and are excited to be working with what we believe to be the leading company in the connected car space, with the best approach for long-term success” said Bernhard Gold, Managing Director of T-Venture of America.
Additional syndicate partners, all repeat investors, include: Relay Ventures, a mobile-focused, early-stage venture capital firm based in Toronto and Menlo Park, and BDC, Canada’s own government-funded venture arm. New to investing is America Online co-founder, Steve Case, whose venture fund, Revolution, has invested in notable names like LivingSocial and Zipcar.

With over 500 active developers producing solutions for automotive verticals, Mojio is a recognized leader in putting everyday cars into the world of connected devices. Mojio’s business plan, which lies at the intersection of today’s two most important and prolific mobile devices, the car and the smartphone, was validated in late 2013 with a successful seed round of $2.3 million.