Nuance Communications, a Nasdaq-listed voice recognition developer, has agreed to acquire corporate venturing-backed Vlingo, a US-based peer for mobile applications, for an undisclosed amount.
Vlingo had raised more than $26.5m from venture capital firms Charles River Ventures and Sigma Partners and corporations including US-listed internet services provider Yahoo! and phone operator AT&T.
Mike Thompson, senior vice-president of Nuance Mobile, said: "Inspired by the introduction of services such as Apple’s Siri and our own Dragon Go, virtually every mobile and consumer electronics company on the planet is looking for ways to integrate natural, conversational voice interactions into their mobile products, applications, and services."
In October, Nuance raised $600m in convertible debentures and has also just agreed to buy corporate venturing-backed Swype, which had raised $2.5m in its C round in July from Samsung Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners, Benaroya Capital, NTT’s Docomo Capital and Ignition Partners. This had followed a $6.6mextended B round the year before for Swype.