PARIS * Purple Labs, French supplier of embedded Linux solutions for the wireless industry, announced it has raised €10.5 million ($14.5 million) in an initial round of funding with European investors.

Led by Sofinnova Partners (Paris, France), Earlybird (Munich, Germany) and Partners Group (Zurich, Switzerland), the round of financing will allow the startup to expand its business into new markets and to strengthen its position with existing partners, stated Purple Labs.

In 2001, Jean-Marie Andre, Jean-Luc Botto, Dennis O'Donovan and Sebastien Soyer, with strong experiences in companies such as Motorola and Philips, said they identified an opportunity in the European market to provide customized mobile communication devices manufactured on a standard architecture with competitive features. Today, Linux has become a key element of their strategy to ensure wide acceptance and adoption of Purple Labs' products.

Purple Labs explained it specializes in the definition, design, development and validation of mobile communication products from entry level to full feature products. It covers hardware, software, integration and approval and provides complete support for manufacturing.

"Purple Labs has made substantial investments in Linux over the years, convinced of its benefits to design houses, ODM's and manufacturers looking for a powerful software platform on which to build their future products, commented Dennis O'Donovan, co-founder of Purple Labs. "We're pleased to have respected investors validating our technical choice in Linux. We look forward to rewarding their faith in the Purple Labs team.

Purple Labs' customers include mobile network operators, phone manufacturers and distributors. Located in Le Bourget du Lac, near Chambéry (France), it now employs about 100 engineers.