Dan Shapiro

Ontela's software for moving photos between mobile phones and personal computers has been validated in the U.S., with carriers such as Verizon and Alltel implementing the camera phone picture saving technology. Now, the Seattle startup is getting some attention from a big player with ties to Europe. Today, Eastven Venture Partners -- the venture arm of the Swedish mobile phone giant Ericsson -- is announcing that it is investing in the Dan Shapiro-led company.

“In this economy, venture funds everywhere are being highly selective about the investments they make,” said Eastven principal Mark McAndrews.  “Ontela really stood out because they’ve been rolling out one successful carrier deployment after another while working well with handset manufacturers and image service vendors alike.”

The announcement was made at the Mobile World Congress, which is beginning today in Barcelona, Spain. In addition to the funding from Eastven, Ontela plans to announce that its technology will be embedded on Samsung's Delve and Motorola's Hint, as well as a third handset to be unveiled later in the week.

Prior to Eastven's involvement, Ontela had raised $15 million from Oak Investment Partners, Voyager Capital, Steamboat Ventures and others.

Carriers are primarily charging their users about $2.99 per month for the Ontela service.