The youth beat goes on — Phonebites and IMVU score funding

Phonebites, the San Francisco start-up that sells “bites” for audio clips which mobile phone users can download and then play during phone calls, has raised $7 million in a second round of funding led by Mayfield.

The company’s announcement is here. Six sounds are sold for about $3 to $4.

Meanwhile Palo Alto’s IMVU has raised another $1 million from Atlanta-based angel investors the Seraph Group, according to VentureWire (sub required).

IMVU is offering teens what it calls a three-dimensional instant messaging service that combines social networking, virtual reality and e-commerce. And here too, teens are expected to pay for doodads like new hairstyles and costumes…

With IMVU’s technology – still in a beta version – users create a home page similar to a Friendster.com or MySpace profile, linking to friends’ pages and listing bands they like. But at IMVU, users design their own persona using a roster of three-dimensional animated characters, or “avatars,” and pick out clothing, hair styles and even pets.

IMVU is not the catchiest name, though, in our opinion.

Next Story: SiliconBeat via email
Previous Story: Ex-Yahoo employees planned defection over IM, suit says