Tuenti Technologies - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding

Tuenti is a Madrid-based tech company that has developed the first social Mobile Network Virtual Operator (MVNO) on the market with an integrated mobile application with private and secure instant messaging and social communication. Tuenti Móvil is the first Telco 2.0 offering in-the-cloud telephone services. Focused on client experience, centered

on data, and totally online, Tuenti incorporates unique, innovative features in its app such as account management, customer service, and free use of the app even without phone credit.

Founded in 2006, Tuenti is the most successful tech company in the history of the Internet in Spain. It has put the mobile at the center of its strategy and is committed to talent, innovation and strong value-added services for its clients and users. Approximately 200 professionals from different countries make up the team. It's main shareholder is Telefónica, an international telecommunications group, who became strategic investor in 2010.

Tuenti, pronounced in Spanish, sounds like Twenty in English. The name, however, actually comes from "tu enti[dad]," meaning "your entity." Tuenti is mainly targeted at the Spanish audience.

Zaryn Dentzel, CEO, and Kenny Bentley, the lead programmer, came to Spain after having worked in social networking in the United States. Kenny Bentley is credited with coding most of the original platform from a small office in the north of Madrid in Spring 2006, while Zaryn Dentzel led the project and was involved in much of the design and strategy.

Tuenti whose social networking website was referred to as the "Spanish Facebook" featured many tools common to social-networking sites. It allowed users to set up a profile, upload photos, link videos and connect with friends. Many other utilities, such as the ability to create events, were also offered. Unlike similar social networking sites which feature banner advertisements, Tuenti opted out of those traditional forms of "noisy" and obstructive advertising.

According to the Google Annual Search Report, "tuenti" was the fourth fastest-rising global search term in 2008, and Alexa Internet ranks the site as one of the top-ten most visited in Spain.

In August 4, 2010, Tuenti was acquired by Telefonica for 70 million. The organization now employees from countries around the world, including Spain, the U.S., Sweden, Germany, Poland, the UK and Portugal.