About Us
Media Coverage
Big things are happening at biNu, as presented in the media coverage below.
U.S. Department of State Launches the “American English” Mobile Application
May, 2013
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is pleased to announce the release of the free “American English” mobile application for lower-tech feature phones and Android devices. Developed in partnership with English Education Alliance (E2A) members, biNu and Worldreader, the application provides new audiences worldwide with “anytime, anywhere” English language learning resources on the mobile devices they already own.
GNA news feed on mobile app platform, biNu
May, 2013
Mr Bernard Otabil, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) announced on Tuesday that the Agency has made its news service available to the people of Ghana and the world via the popular free biNu mobile application.“We chose biNu as a platform for our news applications as it works very efficiently on a wide range of phones, including entry level phones and on all Android devices. Also, development of the application was extremely quick and simple”, Mr Otabil said in a press statement released in Accra.
How a 2G feature phone can outperform an iPhone
April, 2013
Last week, I wrote about an Australian entrepreneur who sold an ad-serving company to 25/7 Media for $75 million only to see its value evaporate in the dotcom crash. He then built up a search engine marketing company that he eventually also sold to 24/7, this time for $30 million when the Internet industry was in recovery. In that post, I mentioned that Gour Lentell was also working on a new startup, biNu, which offers an app platform that gives feature phones smartphone-like functionality.
Former Amazon exec wants to give free e-books ‘to every child on the planet’
April, 2013
While volunteering at an orphanage in Ecuador, former Amazon executive David Risher came across a padlocked library. When he asked the orphanage’s leader why it was locked, she said that the key was lost, the books were out of date, and the children were uninterested in reading. That’s when Risher decided to set out to make books more accessible to people in the developing world.
This Simple App Could Put E-Books On Millions Of Phones In The Third World
April, 2013
It sounds counterintuitive, but in certain developing nations it’s easier to get hold of a cell phone than a good book. More than one in three adults cannot read in sub-Saharan Africa, yet almost every home there has access to at least one mobile phone, according to USAID. Developing nations are among the fastest growing mobile markets in the world, but literacy is still a big problem.
Worldreader counts 500,000 users of its e-reading app on feature phones
April, 2013
Nonprofit Worldreader says that its e-reading app, which is aimed at users in the developing world on 2G networks, is now installed on over 5 million feature phones worldwide. The platform counts 500,000 active readers a month.
Apple and Facebook are closing in on the low-end smartphone market
March, 2013
Early adopters deserve kudos for getting things kickstarted in the technology world. Thank you, people who bought the first VCRs in the 1970s, the first CD players in the 1980s, the first DVD players for $1,000 in the mid- to late-90s, and the first flat screen TVs for $10,000 in the early 00s. And thank you in advance, folks who will buy the first Google Glasses for $1,500. We salute you for your contribution to technological progress.
But the sign for a maturing market is not about who’s first. It’s about having the ability to serve – and collect money from – an entire population.
Smartphones versus feature phones
April, 2013
Safaricom’s recently announced that it would stop selling feature phones in its retail outlets in Kenya to encourage smartphone take-up. This was based on the fact that there is now a significant convergence in terms of price and features between bottom-end smartphones and top-end feature phones. Russell Southwood looks at what this might mean for the transition to and the price leap that still needs to be made.
Upgrades to basic mobile phones aim for a smart future
March, 2013
Researchers hope to benefit users in developing nations by turning ‘feature’ phones into virtual smartphones, finds Jan Piotrowski.
biNu Opens Its Feature Phone Platform To Third Party Apps, Starting With Romance Publisher Harlequin
March, 2013
biNu, a startup that brings apps and content to feature phones and lower-end smartphones, is announcing the first partner in its third-party platform. And that partner isn’t just another tech company — instead, biNu is working with the UK division of romance publisher Harlequin to offer 8,700 books, including the romance titles published by its Mills & Boon subsidiary, in the biNu app.
Paga, biNu collaborate on accessible payment options
March, 2013
Mobile payments company, Paga, has entered into a partnership with biNu, a global mobile social platform dedicated to overcoming the digital divide by providing fast and low-cost access to mobile Internet services, through Facebook, Twitter and more than 100 other channels.
BiNu brings sexy services like Dropbox and Snapchat to dumb phones as it hits 5m monthly users
February, 2013
BiNu, the cloud-based service that brings apps and other smartphone-like experiences to feature phones, has followed its $4.1 million Series A round announced in November with news that it has passed 5 million monthly active users worldwide. In conjunction with the milestone, the 2010-founded company is introducing a range of new features, including cloud storage and a Snapchat-clone.
With 5M Monthly Users, biNu Adds Cloud Storage Service for Feature Phones
February, 2013
Today biNu, a startup that gives smartphone-like functionality to feature phones, announced the launch of its new cloud storage service, MyMedia, and a new ‘Save and Share’ feature that will allow biNu members to share files over SMS, email, messenger, or within its social network. BetaKit last covered the startup when it raised $4.3 million and launched biNu credits as part of its monetization strategy. Since then, the company has grown to five million monthly active users spread out across Africa, Asia, and South America.
Why is this startup obsessed with bringing Snapchat & Dropbox to feature phones?
February, 2013
We told you about biNu last fall; it’s trying to bring smartphone apps to feature phones, even ones on spotty networks that can’t handle much data. Today, the company announces it has brought cloud-based file sharing, walkie-talkie voice features, and even Snapchat-like “ten seconds of glory” self-destructing photo apps to all phones, including feature phones and low-end smartphones.
biNu Partners With US State Dept. To Distribute English-Language Learning Materials
December, 2012
The US Department of State and mobile startup biNu just announced that they’re working together in a public-private partnership. It’s not, perhaps, the most obvious partnership, but biNu says that its app platform for feature phones and lower-end smartphones is already used by an audience of 4 million people, largely in emerging economies.
biNu Raises $4.3M To Bring Apps to Feature Phones, Launches Credits Program
November, 2012
Back in August, the company said it had raised $2 million from Eric Schmidt’s Tomorrow Ventures, along with the Savannah Fund, David Risher, and Paul Bassat. Now the company says that was just a partial close of the round, which has expanded by another $2.3 million, and now includes 500 Startups, Dick Parsons’ and Richard Lauder’s PanAfrican Invesmetment Co., CVC Capital Partners’ Adrian McKenzie, Australian economist Nicholas Gruen, and Lend Lease Ventures’ Anthony Pascoe.
Extra bandwidth: BiNu closes $4.3 million Series A
November, 2012
Not everyone has the sheer level of access to information that comes with owning a smartphone, but biNu is working to close that gap. Short of handing everyone in the world iPhones, the company is making it possible for many in the developing world to connect quickly to modern apps through cheaper and older phones.
Feature phone-focused biNu closes $4.3m Series A, adding 500 Startups and others
November, 2012
We wrote about biNu back in August, when it announced it had secured $2 million from Eric Schmidt’s Tomorrow Ventures and others, and now the emerging market-focused mobile startup has closed its Series A round having raised a total of $4.3 million.
Redefining biNu, a mobile content platform with a social framework
November, 2012
Everything is the opposite in emerging markets, there are not many screens in the average person’s life, and the one screen that is there is the mobile and they use it as a primary means of internet access not a secondary or the third level. This is the internet for many consumers, and they are very price sensitive.
Mobile app venture biNu adds $4.3 million to money pool
November, 2012
Sydney-based start-up biNu has snagged $4.3 million from investors including 500 Startups, having already received funds from Google’s Eric Schmidt and Seek co-founder Paul Bassat.
biNu Raises $4.3M, Adds biNu Credits to Monetize Cloud Platform for Feature Phones
November, 2012
The company announced today the closing of their $4.3 million Series B round with participation from 500 Startups, PanAfrican Investment Co., and other private investors. BetaKit covered the company’s $2 million Series A funding from Eric Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures, the Savannah Fund, and others earlier in the year.
biNu Social is here, a lightning fast mobile social network
October, 2012
In August, after biNu’s much reported $2 million Series A funding round, we noted that the emerging markets “Smartphone in the cloud” service seemed to be morphing itself into a mobile social network. It became apparent later that this indeed was the case. Now it’s not just a gradual background morph; biNu Social is here.
Social media content platform biNu attracts 0.5 million books readers on low-end smartphones and feature-phones
September, 2012
Africans have a thirst for mobile content and it’s not just for SMS news headlines and football scores. Last week social media content platform biNu announced that its partnership with World Reader had netted it 0.5 million book readers on mobile phones and that the number was growing 30% a month.
biNu snaps $2 million in quest to deliver smarts to dumb phones
September, 2012
You could consider biNu a contrarian bet on technology. It is built on the expectation that smartphones will not be affordable to the bulk of the world population anytime soon. It is a reasonable one that has many startups salivating at a prospective market of delivering smartphone smarts, if you will, to about five billion people who will hold on to their cheaper feature phones.
biNu Socializes Its Feature Phone App Platform
August, 2012
biNu, a startup backed by Eric Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures, allows owners of feature phones and lower-end smartphones to access apps like Facebook and Twitter. Now the company is getting more ambitious on the social networking side…
Smart-apps-on-dumb-phones platform gets money from Google’s Eric Schmidt
August, 2012
BiNu is a platform that brings smartphone app services to feature phones, a.k.a. “dumb” phones, reviled by the technorati but still widely used around the globe. The startup’s premise is a brilliant one, one that promises to bring new heights of information, communication, and connectivity to some of the least-empowered areas on our planet; to that end, biNu has just taken $2 million…
With $2M from Eric Schmidt, biNu brings smartphone apps to dumb phones
August, 2012
Eric Schmidt’s Tomorrow Ventures is leading a $2 million Series A round in biNu, an Australian startup that enables feature phones to run cloud-based smartphone apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and Google. BiNu highlights the opportunity in developing markets where smartphone penetration is low.
biNu Raises 2m to Bring Smartphone Functionality to Feature Phones
August, 2012
Sydney-based biNu today announced a $2 million Series A funding round led by Eric Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures, and including private investors in Australia and the U.S. The company launched 18 months ago, and has since added on four million active monthly users for its service, which allows publishers and content creators to create smartphone-like experiences designed for feature phones.
Africa’s Savannah Fund And Google’s Eric Schmidt Invest In Binu Mobile Via $2 Million Round
August, 2012
Savannah Fund, a new African venture capital outfit founded by Erik Hersman, Paul Bragiel and Mbwana Alliy, has contributed to a $2 million fundraising round for biNu mobile, a mobile app platform that brings iPhone-like experiences to low-end smartphones and feature phones.
biNu raises more money as it morphs into social networking platform
August, 2012
biNu, a popular mobile application for feature phones in emerging markets is morphing into its own social networking platform as more and more native social features are added to the platform by the Australian startup.
biNu Raises $2M, Gives 3G Speeds to 2G Feature Phones
August, 2012
biNu is actively playing an important part in emerging markets. The company has managed the impossible feat of making social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter, as fast on any Java-running 2G feature phone as on a 3G smartphone. As well, it’s just as interactive. While the average iPhone toter may not be among their target market, biNu manages to pull in over four million monthly active users, specifically targeting developing nations.
Binu lands $2m Series A funding led by TomorrowVentures to bring the benefits of apps to ‘dumb phones’
August, 2012
Australia-based biNu, a mobile startup that brings smartphone-like experiences to ‘dumb phones’, has closed a $2 million round of Series A funding which included participation from Eric Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures and private investors in the US and Australia.
biNu Secures $2 Million Series A from TomorrowVentures
August, 2012
biNu, the mobile app platform that brings iPhone-like experiences to low-end smartphones and feature phones, today announced a $2 million funding round from Eric Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures, David Risher and other private investors in Australia and the U.S.
There’s money in smarts for dumb phones
August, 2012
Australian mobile app platform developer BiNU has captured the interest and US$2 million in funding from Eric Schmidt’s investment vehicle TomorrowVentures, former Seek founder and serial entrepreneur Paul Bassat and a number of US private investors.
Venture capital deals
August, 2012
BiNu, an Australia-based mobile app platform for bringing iPhone-like experiences to low-end smartphones, has raised $2 million in funding from TomorrowVentures and individual angels. www.binu.com
Smart money in dumb phones
August, 2012
Who’d have thought there would be so much smart money in dumb phones? A coterie of heavyweight investors including billionaire Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt and the co-founder of Seek.com.au, Paul Bassat, have just invested $2 million in biNu, an Australian mobile app platform targeting the four or five billion people who don’t have smartphones.
Google chief Schmidt takes stake in Sydney start-up BiNu
August, 2012
A Sydney start-up has secured a landmark investment from Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt, amid a growth push in developing countries around the world. BiNu, a mobile app platform for low-end mobile phones, has received the $2 million investment from a group of backers, including Schmidt’s Tomorrow Ventures fund.
Google chief Schmidt takes stake in Sydney start-up BiNu
August, 2012
A Sydney start-up has secured a landmark investment from Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt, amid a growth push in developing countries around the world. BiNu, a mobile app platform for low-end mobile phones, has received the $2 million investment from a group of backers, including Schmidt’s Tomorrow Ventures fund.
High-profile investors find $2m for Binu
August, 2012
A MOBILE start-up based in Sydney has secured $2 million in funding from a swag of high-profile investors including Eric Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures and Seek co-founder Paul Bassat. binu (pronounced bye new) develops software that makes browsing the internet on older mobile phones as fast as on modern counterparts such as the Apple iPhone.
biNu Makes 2012 Meffy Awards Shortlist
August, 2012
Innovation Award for Growth Markets: biNu for biNu Social Network and Content Platform
Turning dumbphones to smartphones
April, 2012
“The market is huge,” says Gour Lentell, the Zimbabwe-born, Sydney-based co-founder of a company called biNu. “There are around five billion mobile users in the world today, and more than four billion of them are non smart-phone users. And yet, the mobile forms their only and primary means of accessing the internet. Many of those people will go to extraordinary lengths to have internet access from their mobile devices.”
In emerging markets, creative browsers put SMS on notice
January, 2012
There’s already evidence to suggest that the smartphone revolution is taking its toll on text messaging in industrialized markets where services like instant messaging and social networks arguably do a better job of keeping people in touch, but even in emerging markets — places where even 3G data is often nonexistent — the writing may be on the wall.
Let’s put a smartphone into a feature phone and beat Moore’s Law
December, 2011
I came across another company today that is betting to beat Moore’s law as to what devices will deliver cloud services to the masses first. That company is Binu out of Australia. The idea is to squeeze smartphone like applications that connect to the cloud through java enabled feature phones. The idea is brilliant- it helps deliver cloud service functionalities facebook, twitter and other content including e-books such as Qur’an and Holy Bible bundled via one simple app- they boast 10X the speed and 10X less data
biNu: Offering the smartphone experience on any phone
October, 2011
Since launching in December, 2010, the Nokia Store has helped drive 16 million biNu mobile app downloads, with over 1.6 million unique visitors per month from 180 countries. The biNu site has also experienced rapid traffic increases, with over 154 million page views per month and a growth rate of over 20 per cent month on month.
biNu registers rapid growth in Zimbabwe mobile app market
September, 2011
We came to know about biNu some several months ago when we wrote articles about eTXT. There was a lot of mention about it on our Facebook page. Readers compared it to eTXT and later Dasuba. The messaging component of biNu at least. I personally didn’t try biNu until 12 days ago, and what an impression it has left on me!
Phoning up growth – mybusiness.com.au
February, 2011
Regardless of region, religion or language, the population of the world shares a common thirst for communication and knowledge, and that thirst is increasingly slaked by mobile phones. At least two billion mobiles already populate the planet, or one for every third person…
biNu: Wordnik on almost any mobile phone – Wordnik Blog
October, 2010
For all the Sturm und Drang about smartphones, most people still have what are called ‘feature phones.’ Features phones are simpler than smartphones, but many can still run basic apps. biNu is a company specializing in this enormous if little-heralded market, and they’ve used the Wordnik API to build a dictionary and translation app optimized for basic phones…
biNu targets ageing WAP platform for mobile internet – ComputerWorld
August, 2010
Despite exponential smartphones sales in first world countries, a small startup in Sydney has pinpointed keypad-laden mobile phones with WAP browsers as the key growth area for mobile internet…
CONNECT WITH US