Former Openwave and ShoZu executives to drive Product Development and Marketing

Chambéry, FRANCE – December 10, 2007 – Purple Labs, a leading supplier of embedded Linux solutions for mobile phones, announced today the appointments of Olivier Bartholot to vice president of product management and Steve Langkamp to chief marketing officer. These key additions to the executive leadership team are part of the Company’s strategy to expand and commercialise its mobile Linux portfolio, capitalising on the significant growth in the mobile Linux community. 

“The experience and connections that Steve and Olivier bring are critical to our plans to become the leading player in the mobile Linux space.” commented Simon Wilkinson, chief executive officer of Purple Labs. “Having previously worked with both Steve and Olivier to build Magic4 into a global leader in mobile messaging, it is with great pleasure that I now welcome them to Purple Labs at such an exciting time for the Company and the mobile Linux industry.”

As vice president of product management, Bartholot is responsible for product strategy and will ensure that the product portfolio is developed to support Purple Labs corporate strategy and market requirements. Bartholot has an impressive track record in the telecommunications industry with over 15 years of product management experience spanning Phillips Electronics, Magic4 and most recently Openwave Systems where he held the position of vice president of worldwide field product management. Prior to this Bartholot was vice president and head of the client business unit at Openwave, based in Redwood City, California, where his responsibilities included profit and loss for the product lines and management of engineering and sales.

Taking the position of chief marketing officer, Langkamp will be responsible for the Company’s market strategy and oversee the positioning of Purple Labs within the Linux market, from business plan definition to marketing implementation. Langkamp brings nearly twenty years experience in the mobile software and services industry, including executive sales and marketing roles with mobile network operators in the US, UK and Czech Republic. Immediately prior to joining Purple Labs, Langkamp was chief operating officer for UK start-up ShoZu Ltd., responsible for the development and delivery of their award-winning mobile multimedia application that is now included in Motorola and Samsung phones. He also was previously the chief operating officer at Magic4, the leading mobile phone messaging software provider acquired in 2004 by Openwave.

Together, Bartholot and Langkamp bring strong senior executive experience to Purple Labs, at a crucial juncture for the company and the mobile Linux community.

Purple Labs recently announced the closing of a $14.5 Million USD (10.5 Million €) round of venture capital funding. The financing was led by Sofinnova Partners (Paris), Earlybird (Munich) and Partners Group (Zurich).