Shanghai-based mobile advertiser Madhouse has received an undiscosed amount of funding from Nokia Growth Partners. Incidentally, China is Nokia's largest market, with high demand for lower-cost handheld phones.
Executives at the investor attributed their decision to the low cost of product development in China. Madhouse has seen a rapid rate of growth this year. And earlier this month, it struck a deal with GroupM China to be the agency's preferred mobile marketing partner. GroupM is a big name in advertising all over the world, and carries with it a good measure of clout. Madhouse will provide marketing options to GroupM clients through its subsidiaries Mindshare, MediaCom, Mediaedge:cia and MAXUS.
Madhouse's ad network currently covers about 75 percent of China's mobile traffic. This is a big boon for both Nokia and GroupM, considering how huge China's expanding base of cell-phone users is and will become.