AOL Invests in Internet Mapping Technology Start-Up

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - AOL Time Warner Inc. AOL.N and Siemens AG SIEGn.DE venture capital units joined a $10.5 million funding round for Digital Envoy Inc., the developer of Internet mapping technology said on Wednesday.

Founded in early 1999, Atlanta-based Digital Envoy now has raised about $12 million, and its most recent funding will be used to further develop its software, for use in monitoring and customizing advertising, enforcing digital syndication rights, detecting fraud, and general online security controls.

Digital Envoy's initial product line employs technology that can determine the geographic location, to the city level, and connection speed of any machine -- whether PCs, lap-tops, or hand-held devices -- linked to the Internet, though it does not employ "cookies" -- tracking tools used by Web sites to attach to visitors' hard-disks and record preferences.

"We do not track people. There is not a privacy-invasive aspect to our technology," Sanjay Parekh, Digital Envoy's chief strategy officer, told Reuters. "Businesses get a reliable way of knowing where people are. They are able to gather some demographic information without invading privacy."

AOL Time Warner is a Digital Envoy customer and Siemens is in a technology partnership with the company, Parekh noted.

Digital Envoy's most recent funding was provided by Frontier Capital, Cordova Ventures, CrossBow Ventures, Garage Technology Ventures, AOL Time Warner Ventures, Siemens Venture Capital, and H&Q Asia Pacific.