by MIKE DANO
May 19, 2003 1:04 PM EST

WASHINGTON—InPhonic Inc. continued its stunning acquisition run with the purchase of mobile marketing company Avesair. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

InPhonic said the acquisition will strengthen its position in the wireless market by adding innovative text and multimedia messaging marketing technology to its wireless services portfolio and will allow the company to leverage Avesair’s customers and investor relationships. Avesair’s customers include AT&T Wireless Services Inc., MSN, Nokia Corp., USA Today, Comedy Central, Mercedes-Benz and others.

“Wireless communications is growing in scope each day. We continue to evolve our business by adding new capabilities that unlock untapped market opportunities,” said David Steinberg, InPhonic’s chief executive officer. “Through the acquisition of Avesair, the WindCaster platform enables InPhonic, its partners and its channels to effectively harness direct-to-consumer mobile communications to establish a dialog between brands and consumers—creating new revenue opportunities, improving customer retention and building brand awareness.”

The move underscores InPhonic’s nearly limitless appetite for acquisitions. The company last year paid $20 million for rival Simplexity. Also last year InPhonic acquired Reason Inc., a wireless device management company, for $7 million and GadgetSpace for $10 million. The company acquired professional services firm Skyware for an undisclosed amount.

InPhonic also recently announced it will manage the online sales of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s new “Matrix” mobile phone.

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