Social networking site Pelago has won $15 million in venture financing from mobile phone companies that could see its Whrrl network on phones in Europe and Asia.

The US company has not been seen in its native country yet, and so expansion into Europe and Asia is considered a little unusual. Whrrl is a mobile city guide of sorts that also allows mobile phone users to find their friends on a map.

Two of the company's new backers are Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile and India's Reliance. Other investors include DAG Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Trilogy Equity Partners and Bezos Expeditions.

Pelago was founded by former Amazon.com executive Jeff Holden, who said that the company wanted to move quickly into international markets before there was any real competition. He said the company was just about to get adoption, and that the network would be part of Apple iPhone's upcoming application store.

Though cellphone users in some Asian and European countries have been more receptive to new wireless services, Holden said no one has attempted the same approach as Whrrl.

Pelago will release a new version of the Whrrl service that will run on Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon phones.

More here [http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/archives/139515.asp] X