German software house Brokat is furthering its interests in the mobile commerce arena with a $12 million stake in Spanish start-up MyAlert.com.
Brokat joins major Spanish banks Banco Santander Central Hispano and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, as well as Nomura and 3I in investing in MyAlert, which offers personalised information services to registered users, currently numbering 450,000. Subscribers receive alerts over GSM or WAP phone using the Short Message Service or via email.
Brokat is to integrate the technology of MyAlert into its e-service platform Twister. The Stuttgart company also plans to set up an ‘innovation centre’ together with MyAlert in Madrid, with the aim of developing further mobile services and applications for the Twister platform.