As Vringo edges closer to product launch, here's some funding news. I confess I do not understand the ringtone market well at all. It's a generational thing. In enterprise space, the most common ringtone is vibrate.

NEW YORK and JERUSALEM–July 31, 2007—Vringo, the pioneer in video ringtone sharing, has announced the successful closing of its Series B round of venture capital funding, receiving $12 million in a round led by Warburg Pincus, the global private equity firm. The financing will fund Vringo’s global expansion as it brings new personalization and content services to mobile phone markets in the United States, Europe and Asia.

“Vringo set out with an ambitious goal to make video ringtone sharing finally work,” said Jon Medved, the founder and CEO of Vringo. “We are delighted to be working with Warburg Pincus, a firm that shares our vision and recognizes the enormous consumer potential in sharing video ringtones. Their extraordinary track record, truly global reach, corporate relationships and strategic insight will bring huge value to Vringo as it grows.”

Concurrent with the closing of the Series B funding, the company announced the election of George Allen, a principal at Warburg Pincus, to its board of directors.

“We are very excited to be involved with Vringo at a time when consumers are poised to benefit from the explosion of multimedia mobile devices,” said Mr. Allen of the New York-based firm , which has been a premier investor in technology, media and telecommunications. “Vringo is uniquely positioned to shape and ride the second wave of mobile personalization, and the company has the talent to make it happen.”

Vringo provides users with the ability to share video ringtones each time they make a phone call. Vringo brings ringtones to life by integrating video clips, avatars, animation, greeting cards or photos whenever users make or receive calls.

Vringo’s Chairman, Dan Ciporin, former CEO of Shopping.com, commented: “Vringo is breaking new ground in personalization, we call it Personalization 2.0. Whereas in the past, ringtone content was mostly professionally created audio, Vringo content will be a richer multimedia and video experience with much of it being user generated. While personalization used to be about ‘me and my phone,’ now it is going to be about ‘me and my buddy’s phone,’ as personalization meets social networking.”

The Vringo application, now in public beta, will soon be available on a wide set of mobile handsets including devices made by Nokia, Motorola, SonyEricsson and Samsung. The company will use this investment round to formally launch its product and to expand global partnerships with leading mobile carriers and content providers.

For further details about Vringo or to preview video ringtones, please visit www.vringo.com .

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About Vringo
Vringo is the world’s first video ringtone sharing community. The company is making Personalization 2.0 a reality by enabling users to experience rich media ringtones on a wide variety of mobile devices—and for the first time to share that media with others within a community.

Vringo was co-founded in 2006 by venture capitalist Jon Medved, now chief executive officer, and mobile software expert David Goldfarb, now chief technology officer. Vringo’s management team comes from leading companies as diverse as Comverse, NMS Communications, Siemens, IDT, Earthlink and Shopping.com. Vringo Chairman of the Board Dan Ciporin was CEO and chairman of Shopping.com, until it was sold to eBay. Vringo is backed by Warburg Pincus and by private investors.

About Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus has been a leading private equity investor since 1971. The firm currently has more than $20 billion of assets under management. Since inception, Warburg Pincus has invested more than $26 billion in more than 575 companies in 30 countries and across a range of sectors, including healthcare, consumer and retail, industrial, financial services, energy, real estate and technology, media and telecommunications. Warburg Pincus also has a long history as a leading investor in the information and communication technology sectors, including investments in Avaya , BEA Systems , Bharti Tele-Ventures , Cassatt , Harbour Networks , NeuStar , Telcordia and VERITAS Software . The firm is an experienced partner to entrepreneurs seeking to create and build durable companies with sustainable value. For more information, visit www.warburgpincus.com .

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