The Spain-based telecom company has invested in a new UK-based company that will sell targeted mobile advertising.

Spain-based telecommunications company and broadband internet supplier Telefonica has teamed up with US-based private equity group Blackstone to launch a new mobile advertising venture that both companies hope will someday challenge Google and Facebook.

The result of the joint-efforts is a new UK-based company called Axonix that will sell advertisements in Europe, the US and Latin America on a platform based on technology developed by the now defunct MobClix, the assets of which were acquired by Blackstone earlier this year.