With Eyes on Asia Expansion, CoolIris Receives Investment from Docomo Capital

We received word from the folks over at CoolIris that the service has just received a strategic investment from the venture arm of Japanese carrier Docomo (NYSE:DCM) for an undisclosed amount. Readers may recall that CoolIris launched its first international version of its LiveShare service in Japan late last year, and with this new investment it says that it hopes to expand its reach in Japan and around Asia.

The company says that since its Japan localization, it has seen a five-times increase in the amount of downloads. We’re not quite sure what that adds up to though, and regrettably CoolIris could not share exact metrics. Eisuke Miki, the president and CEO of Docomo Capital noted why CoolIris was an attractive investment target in the announcement:

Consumers are keen to enjoy apps that enable a rich experience in their everyday mobile communications… Cooliris is an innovative company that has profound expertise in visual communications. We are pleased to participate in the financing round as a new strategic investor.

I asked a representative if this meant that we would be seeing LiveShare on Docomo phones soon, and I’m told that this is something that “we can definitely look forward to.” The company couldn’t disclose many specifics, but I understand that it has some big plans upcoming in the near future, so stay tuned for those. The company has a new CoolIris app upcoming as well, and users can be notified of its release by signing up here.

It’s important to note that CoolIris is more than just its core media-sharing product, LiveShare, as the company also developed Adjitsu, a 3D mobile advertising unit that was acquired by Singtel for an undisclosed sum.