Mobile messaging provider Tango has raised $280 million from an investor group led by China’s Alibaba, which contributed $215 to the round. The remainder came from Tango’s existing investor group, which includes Qualcomm Ventures and Translink Capital. The company did not say which of its previous investors took part in this round. To date, Tango has raised a total of $367 million.
Tango is an iOS and Android app that enables free messaging, phone calls, video chats, gaming and music and photo sharing. The company is a competitor to WhatsApp, which Facebook recently agreed to buy for $19 billion.
Social networking features have played a key role in Tango’s growth. The company says that daily engagement has doubled since it rolled out social networking features last July. Registered users now number 200 million, and Tango has 70 million monthly active users.
“This round of funding will enable us to continue to innovate, hire the best talent, aggressively expand our content partnerships and build a world-class platform as we go after what is truly a big opportunity,” said Tango CTO and co-founder Eric Setton in a press release.
That “big opportunity” exists for network operators as well, now that IP technology is becoming more prevalent in wireless networks. Operators are experimenting with content offerings for consumers, and with video conferencing solutions for enterprise clients. Carriers should see an increase in their ability to compete with over-the-top services like Tango as they roll out voice-over-LTE, which will enable voice calls over IP networks.