Lookout , the mobile security company with ambitions to become the Symantec of the wireless world, is picking up a new backer, and and a major distribution partner in its bid to become a household name. France Telecom , owner of the mobile carrier Orange , is making a strategic investment in the startup, and it has also signed a deal in which Lookout will be preloaded on devices that it sells. Orange has 169 million subscribers and it will start first with Lookout service bundles covering antivirus protection and device tracking for Android devices, installing it as standard on devices in France, Slovakia, Spain, and the UK (through its EE JV with T-Mobile) starting in early 2013. Exact financial terms of the investment in Lookout — which has 30 million active installs and has already raised $76 million from a top list of VCs including Khosla Ventures, Chris Sacca, Trilogy Equity Partnership, Index, Accel Partners, and most recently $40 million from Andreessen Horowitz – were not disclosed, but it could be as high as $20 million (€15 million). That’s because the investment comes out of the OP Ventures Growth fund, a $400 million fund backed by Orange and two other French leviathans, advertising giant Publicis and Iris Capital Management
The full story can be read/found on France Telecom Invests Up To $20M In Lookout, Preloads Its Mobile Security Solutions On To Android Handsets
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