March 9, 2009 - The Austin Chamber is pleased to announce that Red Oxygen, one of the world's leading developers and distributors of enterprise text messaging software applications and services, has made plans to open their American headquarters in Austin, Texas.

Established in Australia in 2001, Red Oxygen has become one of the world's leading supplier of enterprise text messaging solutions and platforms. Red Oxygen is currently exporting to 26 countries world-wide while the global text messaging industry has exploded, and continues to grow in these economic times. Businesses all over the world are embracing texting as a primary method for reaching their customers and clients because, while the average email is read in 48 hours, the average text is read in a matter of minutes. There are only 21 million Blackberry subscribers and 18 million Iphone subscribers worldwide versus the 4 billion cell phones that send and receive text messages. So for business to get an important message to customers, employees, shareholders, students or shareholders, there is no better way than sending a text message from your existing database.

"Red Oxygen's highly efficient and innovative SMS platform is a perfect complement to Austin's expanding mobile services and software industry," said Gary Farmer, 2009 Opportunity Austin Chair and President Heritage Title of Austin. "The city welcomes Red Oxygen and hopes that the announcement will not only encourage other tech-based companies to consider relocating to Central Texas, but that it will also reinforce the fact that Austin is one of America's most talented and qualified cities for an array of industries."

In the process of launching their new 2,000 square-foot facility near downtown, Red Oxygen plans to create 10 to 12 new high-paying jobs for Austinites. The average office salary of $50,000 will provide excellent employment opportunities and take-home pay for Central Texans. The positive impact Red Oxygen will have on Austin's wireless industry is in large part due to the Chamber's Opportunity Austin efforts to attract businesses, create jobs and expand company growth in the city.

"Austin was selected over the Bay-Area as a possible location because of its IT and entrepreneurial environment and low cost of living," said Tom Sheahan, CEO and founder of Red Oxygen. "The opening of the Austin office just feels natural. The city's global beliefs and values are more in line with the rest of the world and it has a similar progressive feel to that of the Australian office."

Not only will the headquarters create new corporate jobs, but the move will also open new avenues and opportunities for local Austin engineers, sales associates and college graduates. With clients across a broad spectrum of industries and headquarters world-wide, it's no surprise they are expanding their community of offices to keep up with the growing demand of enterprise messaging.

"More texts are sent daily than the number of people living on the planet," said Sheahan, "and as that number continues to climb, Red Oxygen continues to be optimistic about its future in Central Texas."

Opportunity Austin is the Chamber's five-year economic development initiative to foster sustainable growth through the creation of new jobs and increased payroll in the Central Texas region.

About Red Oxygen
Established in Australia in 2001, Red Oxygen is one of the world's leading developers and distributors of enterprise SMS software applications and services. Products are currently being used by clients such as Pfizer, BMW, Qantas, Microsoft, Siemens, Panasonic, Deloitte, IBM, Accenture, Frito Lay, Billabong and 3M. They are also being distributed by HP, Swisscom Mobile - the largest mobile operator in Switzerland and Vodafone Portugal - part of the world's largest wireless cross-country operator.