Motricity (News - Alert), a provider of mobile content infrastructure and services, has sold its smartphone and direct-to-consumer businesses to an entity owned by Motricity co-founder, former board member and executive Jud Bowman.

 

The sale includes Motricity’s direct-to-consumer businesses PocketGear.com, SymbianGear.com, PalmGear.com, Smartphone.net, Mobile2Day.de, and smartphone application storefronts powered for partners including Palm, Sony Ericsson and AOL (News - Alert).

 

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The new company will operate going forward as PocketGear, Inc.

 

“The divestiture of our smartphone and direct-to-consumer businesses supports Motricity’s commitment to continue to strengthen our focus on our core business of providing mobile content infrastructure and services for the leading global mobile operators,” said Ryan Wuerch, chairman and chief executive officer of Motricity, in a statement. “The direct-to-consumer business was part of the foundation of Motricity and has strong potential for continued growth. However, it is no longer aligned with the strategic focus of the company”.

 

Wuerch was of the view that this transaction will enable many of the same employees that have worked with this part of Motricity for years to continue to operate the business. “Jud played such an integral role in Motricity’s success and I’m confident he’ll have the same success with PocketGear,” he added.

 

Motricity is a provider of mobile content infrastructure and services. The company's offerings span the content delivery chain, enabling compelling end-user experiences and delivering profitable and reliable mobile content offerings for mobile operators and enterprise customers. Motricity's customers include the top six operators in North America representing 94 percent of all North American mobile subscribers. Products and services range from mobile portals and storefronts to messaging aggregation.

 

PocketGear will assume responsibility for Motricity’s smartphone and direct-to-consumer businesses immediately.

 

“I am very proud of what we built at Motricity over the last eight years,” said Jud Bowman, president and chief executive officer of PocketGear. “Today the company is the leading provider of mobile content infrastructure and services, powering some of the largest operators in the world. I look forward to Motricity’s continued growth and success.”

 

“While it’s difficult to leave Motricity, I’m incredibly excited about the opportunity to lead PocketGear and believe the smartphone application market is poised for significant growth,” Bowman added.

PocketGear provides a platform connecting millions of people around the world with smartphone applications from a network of more than 30,000 developers. PocketGear powers smartphone application distribution for direct channels including PocketGear.com, SymbianGear.com, PalmGear.com, Smartphone.net, and Mobile2Day.de and for more than 15 partners, including Palm, SonyEricsson, Sprint (News - Alert), T-Online, and AOL.

 

Since its inception, PocketGear has powered more than 100 million downloads to smartphones and mobile devices from a catalog of more than 50,000 applications. Acquired from Motricity in 2008 by Motricity co-founder Jud Bowman, PocketGear is backed by leading venture capital firms Noro-Moseley Partners and Wakefield Group.