Startup Berggi takes Web content mobile

Unlike many companies targeting mobile devices, ZipClip is not first and foremost focused on smartphones. Considering the startup’s target audience, the pre-teen to young adult who values the connection with their peers and often uses the cell phone as a primary device, the app will be first aimed at basic Web-enabled handsets. At launch, the beta application will work on any Web-enabled phone, including Blackberrys and excluding the Treo and iPhone, which it will support by October, Ozden said. The app is available for Sprint and AT&T users in the US, whereas internationally, it runs over any carrier’s network on Java and Symbian handsets.

According to Ozden, ZipClip’s business model is three-fold. ZipClip users have an inbox with a set limit. Once filled to capacity with free content, a larger inbox will cost the user an annual fee. Secondly, some of the Web content from Berggi’s own site will cost the user a small fee if they choose to port it. Finally, going forward Ozden said he’s interested in capitalizing on the ability to include mobile ads in the app through Berggi’s own ad platform. These three business models will not cancel each other out, he added. All three can be used together. That being said, he’s not expecting to make any revenue at all until the company can attract a substantial user base.

“We want to apply all three whenever possible,” Ozden said. “Initially, until a certain critical mass, we don’t expect to make revenues, just to get as many users as we can at the initial launch.”

Right now, Berggi is starting small in user base and in functionality. The launch is focused purely on content porting and sharing. Today, through an online content editing tool called Studio, users can also customize and personalize their clipped content by cropping photos, turning songs into ringtones or videos into short clips. Going forward, future iterations of the app will include the ability to send games and music from online to the mobile phone and to share content with email or phone-book contacts that are not Berggi network members.