With this new $20M, it totals $65 million in VC funding since it was founded in 2000.
Action Engine is one of the promoters of On-Device Portals (ODP). ODP is a fancy name for an end-to-end mobile application (client on the handset, and services on the Internet) that provides access to information, typically using a rich user interface. An example of an ODP is Yahoo Mobile application.
The following is Troy Norcross’ definition of ODP from his ODP whitepaper:
“An ODP is a piece of mobile device software whose primary function is to provide a dynamic and engaging experience for browsing and consuming mobile content. ODPs make discovery and consumption of mobile content a simple and intuitive experience. An ODP has the ability to evolve with the user, offering targeted multimedia through a simple to use graphic interface.”
I personally never liked much the term ODP — as its definition is subjective, and truly no different from what properly built mobile applications should be anyways: end-to-end, intuitive, engaging, dynamic, rich, access to content, and so on.
But this latest round of funding continues to show the increased interest (once again) on mobile platforms, or the Return of the Platform, which is what companies such as Intercasting, Action Engine, and Nellymoser all offer in the back-end to power their mobile elements.
I do find kind of funny that Paul R. La Monica of CNN Money calls Action Engine an iPhone rival, which totally is not in my opinion.
ceo