Vodafone Announces the Acquisition of ZYB

16 May 2008

Vodafone* today announces that it has agreed to acquire 100% of ZYB, a privately-owned company based in Denmark which operates a social networking and online management tool enabling mobile phone users to back-up and share their handsets’ contact and calendar information online. The acquisition will be made for a cash consideration of Eur31.5 million.

The acquisition of ZYB is a further advance in the implementation of Vodafone’s Total Communications strategy which is delivering new revenue growth around fixed broadband, mobile advertising and a rich set of internet services that integrate the mobile and PC customer experience. ZYB fits into this strategy by enhancing the range of communications services Vodafone can provide to its customers.

ZYB is unique amongst social networking sites as it is designed with the mobile device at its heart, allowing customers to share information and messages between their friends and colleagues who are held in their mobile phone’s address book.

ZYB increases communication choices for customers enabling them to send messages and images from their PC to multiple mobile devices in their mobile community, as well as taking advantage of the functionality of an instant messaging service.

Pieter Knook, Internet Services Director for Vodafone Group, said: “Vodafone understands that the core of any customer’s personal and business network is the set of contacts they hold on their mobile phone.

“Using a web portal as a link between the PC and the mobile device, ZYB provides an interactive way for people to nurture, contact and develop their relationships with their most important friends and colleagues and builds links with those contacts’ wider networks. This is Web 2.0 in action.

“This acquisition is consistent with our strategy of delivering products and services which meet our customers’ total communications needs.”

Tommy Ahlers, CEO of ZYB, added: “I am delighted that ZYB is to join Vodafone, the world’s largest international mobile community.

“Vodafone and ZYB share the same vision: to create a new mobile experience that builds on the convergence between the mobile and PC – and one which works on both platforms.

“By joining a company with Vodafone’s global reach, ZYB has more opportunities to bring to the mobile a further advance to the rich and interactive communications experience which people already recognise via the internet on their PC.”

ZYB will remain based in Denmark and upon acquisition will be incorporated into Vodafone’s Internet Services Division.

* The purchaser of ZYB is Vodafone Europe BV, a holding company of Vodafone Group, based in The Netherlands.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/16/danish-mobile-social-network-zyb-acquired-by-vodafone-for-e315-million/

I find it very interesting how a concept can be ahead of its time in a most frustrating manner. In late 2003, a youth development consultant friend of mine and I were doing the rounds selling an alternative education platform that would run off Moodle and would help harness the real world knowledge that can not and will not be found in regular learning institutuions.

This we pitched hand in hand with the concept of drop a lab, where we would deploy engagement of experience centers that will be run off a central data and management center, essentially creating what would be the largest non institutionalized school in Kenya. Word got to Tanzania and Uganda and people got excited.

This turned out to be a 3 year merry go round with lack of funds and or commitment by stakeholders such as government. We grew tired of endless meetings at Egov offices with periodic change of guards, meetings with multinational IT oriented firms, who of course looked after their own interest – who can blame them. As such we shelved the project to await better times.

Better times came last week when a friend of mine, bwana Mugambi inquired about the Tanzania deployment which I had asked his participation of awhile back. I reminded him of things called bills and company commitments, but at the end of the day he convinced me to exhume the project.

The name we wished to use then was Elimu.co.ke and we proceeded to place a request for the same…shock! A request had been placed only 2hrs earlier for the same name.
Hence why we settled for soma.co.ke

The gist of soma.co.ke is that we will collect alternative education content from all sectors. This will them be made available at minimal cost to people who want to get real world knowledge to improve on their existing skill set. Tests, exams and tutorials will be available and even a form of certification with time – think Brain Bench, but the aim will be knowledge transfer and not examinations and tests.

My classic example is – Munguku the famous chicken farmer from Central province will share some of his best practices and methods on soma.co.ke. A certain young man from coast province will access this information for a minimal fee and implement it on his 5 chicken strong brood. Empowered by this newly acquired knowledge, he will grow his brood and improve on his earnings! Who knows he may become the king of chicken I his home area.

More updates as we progress.
Ohh! we are also thinking of exhuming our original drop-a-lab concept…juicy stuff