tag = "Aka Aki"

Berlin-based aka-aki, which offers a location-based social network for mobiles, has raised additional funding. The amount of this second round of financing was not disclosed, although the company did say it was ’several millions of euros’.

Investors were Creathor Venture and Innovacom.

Aka-aki has been running its mobile social networking service for about two years now and says its community is growing much faster than anticipated. Aka-aki’s Roman Hänsler tells me the user base is currently 350,000 users strong and located around the world. The company started generating revenue only last August, mainly through advertising.

aka-aki shows you the most exciting people nearby. you'll find people sharing the same interests - within walking distance, in your city, everywhere!

there have been more than a million aka-aki encounters already, and now, after reviews on CNN, BBC and The Times, the mobile community aka-aki comes to iPhone/iPod touch!

● find people similair to you
● 
never miss an encounter
● collect and share virtual stickers
● show who you are and what you like
● get to know new people everywhere
● always have your friends with you!


-> discover new people everywhere

It sounds exciting but with a couple caveats: In a similar service, Plazes, I have gone years without seeing a single person within my network. It must be extreme;y difficult to reach that critical mass of usrs within a specific locale. Also, if I am out and about do I really want to have my face stuck in my mobile phone?

Hänsler told CNN that although the service will remain free for users, ultimately aka-aki intends to sell profile space to commercial ventures. "A shop or brand can have a profile at aka-aki and you could 'meet' a shop, or a shop could tell who is passing it every morning and maybe offer that person a voucher for something, or tell them when they have special offers," he said.

Aka-aki is currently focused on Bluetooth technology, because it's so widespread in cell phones, but the GPS technology in Apple's iPhone is even more exciting, because of its ability to pinpoint the position of its users outdoors, with the iPhone's wi-fi detection performing a similar function indoors.