Voice messaging startup Bubble Motion confirms $6M in funding

Bubble Motion, a company that allows users to send voicemails as if they were SMS text messages, announced today that it has raised $6 million in a third round of funding. Based on a regulatory filing, we first covered the Mountain View, Calif. company’s funding in June, but now Bubble Motion has confirmed the news and identified the new investor, Palomar Ventures, which led the round.

Here’s the company’s concept: If you want to send your friends a text message, but want it to have a little more personality or voice (literally), you can send a voice message through Bubble Motions’ BubbleTALK service instead. And unlike a normal phone call or voicemail, it allows you to communicate asynchronously and avoid big long-distance charges — both important if you’re trying to reach someone on the other side of the world. (This sounds like it still has some of the drawbacks of voicemail, like the fact that there are some situations where it’s more convenient to read than to listen.)

Through its deals with mobile carriers, Bubble Motion says it’s currently available for around 225 million users. The company has now raised a total of $35 million; previous investors Sequoia Capital and Comcast Interactive Capital also participated in the new round. Palomar’s Amanda Reed is joining Bubble Motion’s board of directors, as is Al Snyder, chief executive at telecommunications company Aepona.