ZYGO Secures Additional Funding

ZYGO Communications, the UK-based mobile social networking service, has announced the completion of a second round of business angel funding.
The Company’s ZYGOHubs service is designed to allow groups of people to stay in touch. It uses a dedicated phone number to allow a group of people to communicate easily with each other by SMS and the web. Messages sent direct to a group’s ZYGOHub number are instantly and simultaneously received by every person in the group, and everyone in the group can send messages back to their group in the same way. The service is extremely simple to set up and use, the company says. Within minutes, messages can be sent between groups of friends and colleagues as easily as if they were in the same room together.
The service works on any GSM phone, requires no additional installed applications, and can be set up from the mobile or via a web interface. ZYGO has developed a group text facility, group voicemail and conference calling. 
ZYGO provides brand owners with a mobile social advertising platform to reach clearly defined groups of consumers. For advertisers seeking a way to communicate with their consumers via the mobile, there are few simple channels, the company says.  ZYGO has developed an advertising engine that inserts targeted communications, links, promotions and content into each message that the group sends. ZYGO therefore offers a different mobile marketing opportunity which is about engaging with consumers and not being intrusive, for example, through push SMS.
ZYGO says the angel funding will enable it to launch its new consumer-facing ZYGOHubs Beta service and expand its current platform. The company will be actively engaging with brands to deliver targeted group advertising and will continue to grow its customer base and gain traction and insight with its core target audiences.
“At a time when advertisers and marketers are seeking new ways to engage with audiences through mobile marketing, ZYGO offers a way to extend the brand interaction to highly targeted groups,” says Marc Mendoza, an investor in ZYGO Communications, and Managing Partner at media buying agency, MPG. “I am very excited to be one of a number of investors who see the potential offered by this service both for brands and consumers.”
This latest round of angel funding comes from seven investors drawn from a range of backgrounds in advertising, telecommunications, new media and business. It includes a second round of investment from Richard Brennan, a former Executive Vice President of Global Brand Marketing & Products for the Orange Group, and current chairman of ZYGO.